


Home on the Range

by spicyYeet



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: :) i wanna kms, F/M, M/M, i hate myself :))), idk long term project, im so sorry, sorry that i cut the story off :( - Freeform, sorry to all of you who were expecting a decent klance, story only to find that i ended it w/o finishing it, uhhh, wow i can physically feel the disappointment radiating from all of yall - Freeform, yw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2018-12-31 18:39:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 87,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12138672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spicyYeet/pseuds/spicyYeet
Summary: After all that fighting in space, the paladins are now taking a long break back down on Earth. Keith is going back to living his lonely cowboy life, until Lance decides to drop in for a visit, and all things seem to go out of wack.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so uhhh im thinking about making this a long term project, many chapters and all that junk, you know  
> i dont know quite yet what direction i want it to take but i sure as hell am gonna be taking my time and working my ass off on it  
> if i suddenly give up on this story, please, do not be surprised, i am really not the type of person to be that patient with my stuff i'll probably get writer's block and not touch this story for weeks on end  
> but if someone is willing to help me, that would be greatly appreciated bc i need all the help i can get ;v;
> 
> little fun fact, i got the idea for this story bc of two friends at school and i am 100% sure that they are gay for each other  
> ily guys <33
> 
> well anyways, i hope you enjoy the first chapter! and do ever so kindly inform me of any typos or grammar errors

"Hey, Keith!" Lance called from his black mustang, rolling down the windows and pulling up in a dirt driveway that lead to Keith's place. He only dared stop in the middle of the driveway when he spotted the said person. It would be rather awkward waiting for Keith at his house, being an unexpected guest.

  
It was hot down in Texas in the middle of the summer... Like, way hotter than it was up in New York. Like way, way hotter. Like, the kind of hot that no matter how cold you have your air conditioner in the car you're still sweating ten gallons a second. It was so hot, he had to rid himself of his beloved jacket.

  
The said person looked up from his horse, his hat shadowing his eyes. He pulled the horse from the herd of cows once they were all backed into their new pasture. Keith swung his leg over the horse and hopped to the ground, locking the gate before jumping back onto the grey steed. Keith directed its path towards Lance, whom he chuckled at because he could practically see Lance glistening with sweat from where he was.

  
Lance waited patiently, but quickly grew impatient. Keith was doing this on purpose, he knew. Probably laughing at him because he's making Lance wait longer out here for him in this blistering heat. Lance rolled his eyes and opened the scorching hot car door and stepped out of it, shutting it once he did. He leaned against the car and crossed his arms across his chest. He restrained a screech at the feel of the hot black metal burning his skin through his shirt, instead, he tried to distract himself by tapping his foot in the dirt.

  
And also to distract himself, he admired Keith up and down.

  
Keith was wearing a white T-shirt with stains of sweat on the chest area, stomach, armpits, and Lance could imagine his back, too. A light brown cowboy hat sat on his head and protected his eyes from the harmful rays of the bright sun beating down on them. He wore light blue jeans that seemed to have a rather loose fit on him. Keith had a belt on, which had a pistol attached to it, as well as, from what Lance could tell, a whip. And he wore some boots.

  
_God, he's h-_

  
"Hey Lance." Keith greeted as he hopped down from his steed. He flipped the reign over its head, pulling it with him as he approached Lance.

  
"Hey buddy," Lance said, quickly pushing himself off the black car to embrace the other male. He should have listened to his mother about getting a different paint on. That shit's like 100,000,000,000,000,000 times hotter than it should be. Just before he wrapped his arms around Keith, Lance pulled away before saying, "Whoa, actually, I'm not touching you until you're dry."

  
_Even though I would love to do more than just touch you while you're_ soaking.

  
Keith raised an eyebrow. "Right."

  
"Well," Lance said, hopping back in his car. "I'm tired of standing here in the heat. Can we go inside?"

  
"Yeah," Keith grunted, walking around to the side of the horse, and put a boot in one of stirrups, hoisting himself back onto the saddle, then swung his leg over. Lance held his breath as he watched Keith. The male's muscles flexed as he lifted himself onto the horse. He got a glimpse of his back, which was, in fact, drenched in sweat, and caught the muscles under the shirt ripple and constrict. "Let's go, city boy."

  
As Keith led the way on his steed, Lance followed in his car behind.

 

  
At this slow pace, Lance didn't think they would get there before sundown. Lance was very tempted several times to just leave Keith in the dust and get there himself. But, the only thing that was keeping Lance back was admiring the male in front of him.

  
He had to admit, he'd never seen Keith in all his cowboy junk, but he looked damn good in it. He could only imagine Keith in his cowboy hat, with nothing but boots on with that whip in his hand, riding Lance off into the sunset.

  
Lance shook himself, utterly horrified by his train of thought ever since he'd seen Keith. He was losing his balls. Lance tried to rid himself of the feeling, but failed. He didn't feel like talking at all, either. It felt as if the heat was sucking all his energy right out of him.

  
_I'd like_ Keith's _heat to suck all my energy right out of me._

  
There he goes again.

  
Attempting to distract himself, he turned on the radio, keeping it on a low volume, taking care not to blast it into oblivion, like he normally would. Just as soon as he'd done that, his favorite song came on. How could he not blast this, now? Snapping his hand over to the radio, he cranked it higher. As the music played, Lance saw Keith turn his head and glance back at him with a small smile on his face before looking ahead once more.

  
_Keith smiled... Man, this heat is really getting to me._

  
Keith tapped the horse's skin with the heel of his boot gently, urging it forward into a trot. He noticed Lance sped up a bit in his car to keep up with him. He didn't know why Lance had been driving behind him, when could have literally just driven on without him. But he ignored the thought, didn't really matter to him. All that mattered at the moment was getting in that house and flipping that air conditioner on, take a nice long shower, and getting something to eat then hop in his pajamas, maybe read a book, and go to sleep. All he really wanted to do at this moment was collapse and never wake up from his slumber again. He hadn't thought it would get this hot today, but hey, you never know, the weather could change in a heartbeat.

  
While Keith was thinking of everything but Lance, Lance was quite the opposite. He was busy being caught up in his thoughts while watching the way Keith bounced and swayed on the horse. God, he would never get enough of this guy. Is it even possible to be that hot? Out of all the shows he'd seen, not a soul on there was as hot as Keith. There was no way. He looked like he came right out of Jesus's ass. Maybe it was just the heat or something that was making him look differently. Lance was by no means used to this kind of heat at all. He wondered how Keith survived it all.

 

  
A few minutes passed before, finally, Keith's house came into view.

  
"Thank God!" Lance exclaimed, sighing and leaning back into the seat. "I thought we'd never make it."

  
"You're incredibly lazy," Keith turned his head and raised an eyebrow at Lance. "You should get out more."

  
"But it's hot."

  
"So?" Keith pulled his horse back to walk side by side with Lance's car. He scoffed, "How often do you get out?"

  
Lance hesitated. "...A lot."

  
"Mhm." Keith hummed sarcastically, shaking his head. "Well, I do hope you know that the entire time you're here, you'd better be getting your ass up and helping me."

  
"You live alone?" Lance questioned, noticing how there weren't any cars around except for a big silver truck that sat alone in the driveway.

  
"Yeah?"

  
"Why?" Lance questioned again. "Don't you get lonely?"

  
"Not really," Keith shrugged. "I like the time to myself. I hardly ever got it up on the ship, you know, because I was either interrupted because of a drill, missions, training, or _someone_ kept pestering me."

  
Lance grinned, because he knew exactly who that someone was. "Well excuse me, I like to socialize."

  
"I thought you hated me?" Keith looked down at Lance and the corners of his mouth twitched into the slightest of smirks, that it wouldn't be noticeable unless you'd been paying attention.

  
"Eh. You're okay."

  
" _'Okay?'_ " Keith inquired. "Oh, c'mon Lance, you and I both know you love me."

  
Lance cackled.

  
Keith shook his head with a click of his tongue. He slowed his horse to a walk when they finally reached the lonely house. Lance parked his car and hopped out, taking his keys with and already walking over to Keith, whom was currently stepping off his horse. Keith stopped and then stuck his hand in his back pocket, digging for something. When Lance heard a jingle, Keith had tossed him the keys to the house. Although, there were at least four keys on there.

  
"You can go ahead and go in," Keith said. "I'm going to put Nadia up. Keys to the house should be the third key." He pointed out before leaving again.

  
Lance watched Keith depart, letting his eyes wander _"accidentally"_ over Keith's ass.

  
_Man, I want a piece of that ass... In a bad way._

  
He shook his head, before turning to the house.

  
It was not all that big, but it was a two story house. Not much to it on the outside, except for the dusty brown color to it and the small porch. He looked down and fumbled with the keys, finding the key Keith had said it to be. He stuck the key in the slot in the door and turned the knob, opening it to an actually very pretty place. He expected a rather beaten down place with dirt all over the place and for it to smell like Keith's B.O. But instead, it was clean, smelled nice, but was not cold, unfortunately. Lance was expecting to get hit in the face with a whoosh of cold air. That would have been great right about now. He feels like an egg frying on the scorching sidewalk.

  
He stepped in and looked around, setting Keith's keys down on a counter.

  
The living room is not very big. A TV sits on a TV stand on the wall in front of a love seat. The wall that the TV sits in front of is slightly curved to the right, from the view of sitting on the couch. The TV is right beside a staircase, which lead up into some room, blocked off by a door. A coffee table sits in front of the love seat. The front door is more of into the kitchen, so a bit behind the couch, off to the right of it, from a view of standing behind it. To the right of the door, as Lance noticed when he walked in the door, there is a slightly curved hallway that leads to, what he guessed, a laundry room, which looked no bigger than a walk-in closet. On the left wall in the hallway, from the view of facing the back of the couch, is a white door that leads to, also what Lance guessed, a bathroom. Beside the front door, off to the left of it, from the view of walking through it, is a food closet, which holds all the snacks, flour, sugar, canned and bottled drinks, etc. Lance grabbed a bag of chips from the closet, then continued to explore. The flooring of the living room is carpet, and kitchen is separated from it by a hard white flooring.

  
The kitchen is only slightly bigger than the living room, not by much, however. A fridge stands a few inches to the right of the snack closet, from view of standing in front of the snack closet, and a few inches apart to the right of the fridge, from view of standing in front of the fridge, a counter is there, then the kitchen sink. The counter continues, following the wall until it takes a corner, continues more a bit after turning the corner before stopping and running into the stove and oven, which were combined into one. A microwave sits above the stove and oven, cabinets on either side of it (the cabinets started at the corner, and stops as the counter stops on the other side of the stove). A round table sits in the middle of the kitchen, a few feet away from the "border" of the living room and kitchen. The journey of the cabinets stops when there is a corner to turn, again, which leads into a smaller "room" of the kitchen. This "room" holds the trash can and other kitchen supplies, all held in another closet, to the left, from view of standing in the frame of the "room" (aside from the trash can). To the right, from view of walking into this "room", is a glass sliding door that leads outside, which was covered by green curtains.

  
The bathroom that was down the hallway (as Lance had correctly guessed), was rather small, but still plenty of room to move around. The sink was off to the right, from the view of walking in the bathroom, with cabinets under it, that looked to be excellently cleaned. To the left of the sink, was a white, also clean, shiny toilet. In front of the toilet, is a small closet that contained towels, wash cloths, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and hand soap, few bottles of cologne and axe here and there. To the left of the toilet, from view of sitting on it, with the lid closed at this moment, of course, was a toilet paper roll thingy on the side of the sink. To the right of the toilet, from view of sitting on it, was the shower.

  
Shower is painted a tan, and has an input in the wall, almost like a built in shelf, with a bar above it to hold on to. In the far corners inside the shower, are two more shelf thingies. There was a detachable shower head, and a silver faucet below it.

  
Lance, still eating that bag of chips, walked back into the living room. As said before, the TV sits right beside that staircase. The stairs lead up to the master bedroom, which, of course, Lance knew was Keith's room, closed off by the door at the top.

  
To the right, from view walking up the stairs, is a small balcony that was not very big, very little room, just enough to fit one person wide, due to the railing and the wall of the bedroom, that stretches out over the hallway in the living room, and is the ceiling from there on down the hallway.

  
Walking into the door that leads to the Keith's bedroom, is a rather wide, squared room, but not so wide that it's completely ridiculous. The bed sits to the wall opposite of the door, a few feet to the right, from the view of standing in the door. The head of the bed is against the wall, while the feet of it is out to the open bedroom. To the left of the bed, from view of lying on it (Lance whiffed Keith's sheets a couple of times, then realized that was weird and stopped), is a desk against the wall. Desk is not all that big, but looks like it should be able to fit a computer at least the size of a laptop, a few textbooks and/or paperwork, and some drinks, or something. Two drawers that sit atop each other were on either side of the desk. They were not big, however, only big enough to hold stacks of paper and other things. Leg room was avaliable under the desk, an opening between the drawers. In front of the bed, sits another TV, only smaller than the one downstairs. A coffee table to the right of the bed, from view of lying on it, was big enough to hold a lamp and at least a book and a small remote.

  
To the left of the door, from view of walking through, into the room, is a small hallway, not big at all, much like the one downstairs. The back wall is closed off by a door that leads to a bathroom. The bathroom is round in shape, and everything is placed as it would be in the bathroom downstairs. On the right wall, from view of standing at the beginning of the small hallway, is yet another closet, that, again, contains the same content as the bathroom downstairs, the only difference in there were Keith's clothes (that Lance strongly resisted to bring them up to his nose and smell them).

  
After Lance was done exploring, he was really surprised. He really wondered how he managed to pay for all this. But besides anything else, he really wanted the air on. He was sweating Niagara Falls. He wandered around the house several times before coming across the air unit, which was beside the front door. He turned it on with haste, then, in the blink of an eye, he ran off to find an air vent.

 

  
Keith was now jogging back to the house. He didn't know why he didn't put Nadia up when they had passed her confined area. Lance could have driven them both back and Keith wouldn't be in this situation.

  
Keith's butt was sore to the oblivion, and his back ached. He was sweating like a hog, and really needed a shower, because he reeked of... Well, everything. His legs were asleep, which made the landing of his feet sound with a dull thud. He honestly hated trying to care for himself and all the animals here on his own. He slowed to a weak fatigued trudge.

  
That brought him back to what Lance had asked him earlier, about him living alone and feeling lonely. Yeah, he lied. He did enjoy the time to himself, but so much time was a little nerve racking. He needed to socialize with someone other than his... Somewhat family dropping in for a visit every once in a while out of the few months he'd just returned. He wanted Shiro, more than anybody, to drop in for an unexpected visit, but, he guessed he could accept it being Lance, instead. It was better than talking to a wall and himself.

  
It's not that he didn't like Lance or anything, it's just he feels really uncomfortable around Lance. He can always feel his blue gaze drilling holes through his back when he's walking in front of him. He knows his eyes follow him where ever he goes. It's just unnerving. Oh well, all he can do now is hope that someone else will show up for a surprise visit and take some of the weight of Lance's presence off of him.

  
As he approached the house, he wiped his boots off on the rug that sat on the porch, before twisting the hot metal knob and pushed it open. He saw Lance had already situated himself on the love seat and watching TV, and eating a bag of chips.

  
If Lance is going to be here, he'd surely have to put a lock on the snack closet. He kicked off his boots by the door after shutting it behind him when Lance turned around and said, "I didn't expect this place to be this nice. I thought you lived in some kind of sweaty old barn."

  
Keith took slight offense to that, but ignored it, moreover. He removed his hat from his sweaty head and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Again, even if he wasn't looking at Lance, he could feel him staring. Uneasy, he trudged over to the couch where he set his hat on the back of it, seeing how Lance would react. As he set the hat down he looked at Lance, who was still staring, then raised an eyebrow and said, "What? Is there something on my face?"

  
Lance blinked. "No..."

  
Just a whole lot of handsome, Lance laughed mentally. But soon after scolded himself for just openly staring.

  
"Okay, well," Keith said, pulling his hand away from his hat. He started to unbuckle his belt and Lance lost all contact with air to his lungs. When Keith unbuckled his belt, he walked over to the refrigerator and swung the door open, snatching a cold bottled water out. He twisted the cap off and tilted the bottle up and chugged it down his throat. Lance peeked over the couch, watching how Keith's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he gulped, and how water ran down the side of his mouth.

  
Fuck! There is no goddamn way someone can be that hot. I must be dreaming...

  
With a gasp for air, Keith had downed the entire bottle. He tossed it on the counter, before poking his head into the fridge. Lance heard a sigh and Keith looked up a him, "We're gonna need to go shopping tomorrow if you're going to stay here."

  
"Oh," Lance said. "I'm not staying that long."

  
"Why not?" Keith asked, standing straight and shutting the refrigerator door.

  
Lance was surprised by his questioning. "I didn't think you'd want me here that long. Plus, when I leave you'll probably just replace me with Shiro or something."  
As Lance was saying this, Keith had grabbed a little juice box and had been drinking on it. He sucked back the juice back too soon after Lance said that. He coughed and sputtered, setting a hand on the counter for support. After his little coughing fit, he looked at Lance and said, "Lance, why would you think that? I don't hate you that much, if that's what you're thinking."

  
"I wasn't..." Lance paused. "Okay maybe I was. But let me put it more of what I was thinking; I think you would rather have someone else staying with you than me, especially Shiro. He's almost like... Your fiance or something. Aren't you guys together?"

  
Keith stared at Lance for a moment, before throwing his head back and laughing. Lance raised an unamused eyebrow as Keith bent over and put his hand on his knee while the other clutched his stomach. "What-What made you think that-that me and Shiro were... Fiances?! Or even together? Have you gone crazy?" The word "have" and "crazy" was broken up into chuckles as Keith struggled to catch his breath.

  
"I've seen the way you two act around each other!" Lance protested, slightly heartbroken. "And don't get me started on the looks you give two each other, too!"

  
"Oh my God, Lance," Keith wheezed. "You're killing me."

  
Lance pouted, his bottom lip poked out and quivered. "Don't make fun of me. You're only doing it because you're denying it!"

  
"I don't know what you're saying," Keith calmed himself, taking deep breaths.

  
"Yes you do."

  
"Really, Lance," Keith sauntered back over to the love seat, taking his belt off fully, taking out his pistol and the whip that was with it, he placed it on the table in front of the couch, plopping himself on the sofa next to Lance. "I don't know what you're ta-"

  
"Ew, oh my god, Keith, you stink."

  
Keith looked at Lance with an open mouth and a confused expression as Lance wrinkled his nose and leaned away from Keith. "Fine, I'll take a shower, but don't think we're just going to drop this conversation."

  
"'Kay," Lance shrugged, turning his attention back to the TV that had been going on without him.

  
Keith honestly couldn't stand it when Lance was irritated. It irritated him more than he would like. When Lance was irritated or upset, he tend to upset those around him, too.  
More than he probably realizes, Keith observed.

 

  
After Keith got out of the shower, he came back downstairs to his guest, whom had fallen asleep on the couch, the TV still on.

  
_I guess we're dropping the conversation, after all,_ Keith sighed, wiping the back of his neck with the towel around his shoulders. Walking down the stairs, Keith trudged over to Lance and found the small empty bag of chips Lance had been eating on the floor beside the couch. With a huff, Keith bent over and cleaned up after Lance. As he was picking up the empty bag, and started to stand, he side glanced at Lance.

  
Lance's hair was ruffled and messy, probably from tossing and turning on that small and uncomfortable couch, and he slept on his back. He had a peaceful expression on his face, fully relaxed and the scowl he had been wearing disappeared. His lips were slightly parted as small puffs of air and snores slipped past them. Lance's right arm was dangling off the couch, while his left was draped across his stomach. His shoes were still on, as was his jacket, that he'd thrown back on, and jeans instead of his pajamas 'n such.

  
He must have left his stuff in his car, Keith realized with a small smile. He noticed he'd been sitting there and staring for way too long, that it made him uncomfortable. He shook his head and stood, walking into the kitchen and disposing of the trash. Afterwards, he turned the lights and the TV off, finally heading into his room. He was utterly exhausted.

  
At the moment, he was too lazy to put his towel in the dirty clothes, so he just threw it to floor beside his bed. He looked down at his crimson red sheets, and flopped onto the mattress. With a sigh, he curled up on the bed and snuggled up under the sheets, pulling the second pillow in his arms, hugging it close to his body.

  
He lay there for a few moments, and grunted, kicking the sheets off of him. It was way too hot for that shit, even with the air on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith whined, curling into himself slightly, his ears folding back and his teeth grit. He felt his eyes water as an intense wave of heat slithered down his entire body with such force, it felt like a tsunami of heat. He caught Lance's reaction, and felt so embarrassed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay y'all i got the second chapter up but i have no idea what i want to happen for the third bc severe writer's block
> 
> well i hope you enjoy i guess  
> please inform me of any typos or grammar errors ty

Lance woke up with a groan, his back hurt and he felt like he had just been hit in the head with a sledgehammer. He reluctantly cracked his eyes open, looking around the dim room. He didn't realize he'd been awoken by Keith, who had just closed the door to his bedroom and walking down the stairs. He turned on his side, facing the TV. His gaze locked onto Keith as he trudged past Lance, until he was out of sight in the kitchen.

  
"Do you always get up this early?" Lance mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

  
"Yeah, sometimes earlier," Keith grunted from the kitchen. "Get up, I'm making breakfast."

  
"I didn't think you had anything?" Lance said, reluctantly sitting up. "I thought you said we had to go shopping?"

  
"I have like," Keith started, opening the fridge and poking his head in. He reached his hands in and shuffled around in there. "Three eggs, some bacon, and some bread. That's about it."

  
"How do you survive around here?" Lance questioned with a drowsy surprise.

  
"I don't eat a lot," Keith shrugged, pulling out the items he called out. "Unlike you."

  
"Hey!" Lance protested, but Keith ignored him. He opened one of the cabinet doors on the side of the counter, pulling out a skillet and placing it on the stove. After a moment of silence, Lance said, "I didn't know you could cook."

  
"I can," Keith said while his back was turned to Lance. "But I'm no where near as good as Hunk. How do you want your eggs?"

  
"Scrambled." Lance mumbled.

  
"Man, you're boring," Keith shook his head. "Try over-easy."

  
"Over... Easy?" Lance tilted his head at Keith. "What's that?"

  
"You'll see," Keith grunted.

 

  
A few minutes pass, and Keith is already done whipping up breakfast for them.

  
"Get it before it's cold," Keith yawned from the kitchen. Lance joined him soon after, taking a seat in a chair across from Keith. He quite liked the way Keith's bed-head looked. His black hair was all out of place and really frizzy, strands of hair sticking up here and there. And he seemed to notice that Keith was a little out of it this morning.

  
Well damn, he couldn't blame him, it was like, six o'clock in the morning and they already had to get their asses up and do stuff. Thinking about it, Lance sort of felt bad for Keith. If this was his daily routine living alone, no wonder he's always so snappy. "You okay?" Lance questioned when the other male had zoned out.

  
Keith blinked himself back into reality. "Yeah, I'm fine."

  
_Hell yeah you are._ Lance mentally slapped himself.

  
Lance cocked an eyebrow. "You don't look fine."

  
"I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night," Keith shrugged, digging into his breakfast.

  
"Why not?" Lance persisted further, also starting on his food. _Goddamn! These eggs are good. They might just be better than Hunk's scrambled._

  
Keith was silent for quite a few seconds, continuing to stab and shove food into his mouth. It was almost as if he were ignoring Lance's last question. Was it really that bad?

  
"It was hot." Keith stated simply after so of a minute, which was odd. You're not supposed to take that long to respond?..

  
Lance didn't believe him in the least bit, but decided not to dwell on it; he didn't want to make Keith anymore upset than he seemed to be. After that, they ate in silence.

  
"Oh yeah," Keith sang. "You left your stuff in your car."

  
Lance glanced around, looking on the living room floor and around the couch before saying, "I _did._ "

  
Keith smiled at Lance ever so slightly.

 

  
After they finished breakfast, Lance had rushed out to his car and snatched his stuff from it, quickly darting back into the house with it. "Where do you want me to put this?" Lance asked, holding up his giant basketball bag full of his clothes and other necessary and probably unnecessary items.

  
Keith thought about it for a moment, then shrugged, "Just put it upstairs."

  
"'Kay." Lance said before prancing up the stairs with his bag. Opening the door and stepping in, shutting the door behind him, Lance got a whiff of what he thought to be Keith's cologne or body wash, one of those. And damn, did it smell great. It didn't smell of just the pure chemicals of the substance, it smelled like... Well, Keith, was all he could describe it as. It smelled familiar but unique at the same time. It was almost intoxicating. He could only imagine how much more intoxicating it would be if Lance were skin on skin with Keith. He covered his mouth, suppressing a moan of delight.

  
"Hey Lance?" Called Keith's voice from the other side of the door. "I need to grab something. What are you doing in there?"

  
Lance panicked for a split second. He sure as hell didn't want Keith knowing he was being a total creep. So he went with the first thing that came to his mind. He hastily shed his shirt from him, and called back, "I'm just changing! Sorry."

  
"It's fine," Lance could practically hear the shrug in his voice. "Are you at least decent enough so I can come in?"

  
"Uh, yeah," Lance said quickly without thinking. He dug in his bag for a clean shirt, and his heart lept into his throat when he heard Keith open the door. Lance could have swore on his grave that Keith stopped and stared for a second before walking into that small hallway and, also, grabbing clean clothes to change into.

  
"You mind if I change in here?" Keith asked Lance, looking over at him with his clothes in hand. Lance looked up and stared for a second, just quickly admiring how Keith had asked permission to change in the same room with him, even if it is Keith's room.

  
"It's _your_ room," Lance remarked. "You don't have to ask, dumbass."

  
Keith shrugged and trudged over to his bed and set his clothes down, and shit, he might as well ripped his own shirt off, the way he took it off. Lance swallowed the lump in his throat. He'd seen Keith in nothing but swim trunks before, but it felt different seeing him without a shirt, now. He just wanted to trail his hands up and down Keith's torso...

  
"You okay there, Lance?" Keith questioned, looking over to Lance with a raised eyebrow. "You look like you just had a dick waved in your face."

  
Lance blinked and knit his brow together, looking at Keith with a tense confusion. "What?"

  
"Nothing, nevermind." Keith sighed, continuing to change.

  
Lance turned back to his business, trying his best to confine the arousal that was burning inside him. How the hell is he supposed to change with Keith in the same room? He has to change into a completely different outfit, which meant ditching his pants for new ones, and he wasn't 100% sure if he wanted to do that in front of Keith.

  
But shit, Keith didn't seem to have a problem. He'd already put another shirt on and was in the process of taking his pants off.

  
_Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!_  Lance chanted repeatedly in his head. He was deathly afraid that he would do something stupid to Keith and he would hate him forever. Sucking the feeling of the awkward and nervous arousal down, he tried to ignore Keith and continue with his business, unbuttoning and unzipping his pants, before tugging them down, and, in the flash of lightning, snatched the clean pair of jeans and pulled them on with haste. He then grabbed a plain blue shirt and shoved it down over his head. He dared not glance back at Keith, but when he reached for his toothbrush and toothpaste, he hesitated and questioned if he wanted to walk all the way downstairs, through the living room, and into the bathroom to brush his teeth then come all the way back and put his items up.

  
He decided against it. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" Lance asked, turning around to face Keith and gesturing to the items in hand. Keith looked at him, thankfully fully dressed now, and nodded. As Lance sauntered into the bathroom, he questioned why Keith hadn't already left the room. _Well duh, it's_ his _room, like you said_.

  
Brushing his teeth, he recalled the events of last night. Lance distinctly remembers the little argument they had about Keith and Shiro being together, or something like that. He realized they had not talked about it all day, which, he was grateful for. When he was finished, he walked out of the bathroom and noticed Keith was not in the room anymore, thank God. Going back to his bag, Lance tore out his bottle of cologne and applied a couple of squirts, one on his neck, and one on his torso. He also applied some quick deodorant, and shoved everything back in, then grabbed his comb and fit his hair back into place.

  
He wandered back downstairs and found Keith all suited up. Cowboy hat and everything, except for the whip and the pistol, but he had the belt on. God, Lance loved all that junk on Keith more than he should.

  
"You didn't comb your hair or put anything on?" Lance questioned, trying to recall Keith doing those actions.

  
"Of course!" Keith scoffed. "I'm not some rabid animal. I did it down here, if you were wondering."

  
Ah, Lance was wondering why the smell of cologne burned his nose.

  
"Let's get going then, shall we?" Keith quirked, holding a hand out and gesturing to the door.

  
"Why this early?" Lance groaned. "Why we can't we go when it's... _Less_ early?"

  
"Because I'd like to have something to eat later on in the day when I'm hungry, than having to go all the way to the store to get it," Keith explained, snatching his keys from the counter, where Lance had put them. He pulled the door open and locked it, waiting for Lance.

  
"Makes sense." Lance shrugged and walked through the door past Keith, now waiting for him. Keith shut the door, and turned on his heel towards his silver truck. As they approached the vehicle, Lance had remembered what Keith said about not getting a lot of sleep last night. With a smile, Lance snatched Keith's keys from his grip, twirling it around his finger.

  
"Hey!" Keith protested, reaching for his keys, but Lance held them out of his grasp. "What do you think you're doing?"

  
"Didn't you say you didn't get a lot of sleep last night?" Lance questioned smugly, continuing their trek to the truck. "You shouldn't be driving on little sleep, you know. That's very dangerous."

  
Lance knew that Keith was always caring for himself, and for that, he isn't taken care of by anyone else, and probably isn't used to it, as he was on the ship. So, he decided to do just that: take care of him in his own special little way.

  
"I've done it before," Keith grunted. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

  
"Yes," Lance said, turning to look at Keith once he was mere inches from the door of the truck. "But I'd rather be safe than sorry." Lance opened the door and stepped into the silver truck with a grin. "Get in, I'm driving whether ya like it or not."

  
Keith stared at Lance for a moment before turning to walk to the passenger with a sneer. Lance nearly laughed.

  
Keith crawled into the passenger side, plopping down on the seat, buckling himself in and crossing his legs and arms. "Let's get going."

  
Lance did as told, sticking the key into the ignition and starting the truck. The truck had a low rumble to it, but not so loud that it was stupidly ridiculous. It struck Lance as sort of sexy, in a car way, you know. The truck didn't look all that bad, actually. It was dirty and all, definitely needed a wash. There was mud and dirt all over it, dulling the silver shine under it.

  
Without further ado, Lance pulled out and started down the dirt road.

  
"So where are we off to?" Lance questioned, tilting his over to Keith.

  
"The market," Keith grunted.

  
"...Where's that?"

  
"This is why you should have let me drive," Keith grumbled under his breath. "A few miles straight after you turn left."

  
A silence fell as they slowly drove down the long road that Keith called his driveway. "How are you able to afford for this property?"

  
"Shiro." Keith replied simply. "He'd might as well be rich."

  
"He gives you money?" Lance asked. "Or does he pay you?"

  
"He doesn't pay me," Keith answered. "Not at the moment, anyway. He knows I'm struggling, so he decided to lift some weight off my back."

  
"So he's giving you money?"

  
"Sure."

  
"How much does he give you?"

  
"Around a thousand dollars a week."

  
Lance raised an eyebrow at Keith's short responses, but decided not to ask anything about it; he didn't want to aggravate Keith anymore than he possibly already has.

  
After Lance had finally pulled off of that long ass driveway, he flicked his blue gaze down to the radio, which looked as if Keith never even used it. He then glanced at Keith, who was scowling out the window. Hopefully music would lighten his mood. Lance quickly turned the radio on, and flipped through several channels before he came across the one he was looking for. He smiled and looked to Keith, who was now scowling at him.

  
"What?" Lance quirked, tapping his finger on the steering wheel along with the beat. "You don't like music?"

  
"I hate this song," Keith grunted, reaching his hand to change the radio.

  
Lance bat Keith's hand away. "Well, I like it, so we're gonna listen to it."

  
"But this is my truck."

  
"I'm driving."

  
"You should be concentrated on the road, not this awful music."

  
"I can manage both."

  
Keith rolled his eyes and leaned back in the seat with a huff. Damn, he had an attitude today. "It's about to go off, anyway." Lance inquired.

  
"Thank God."

  
The song went off, but just soon after, another song Lance loved had come on. And there was no hope for Keith, now, because Lance recognized that tune anywhere. "OOOOH SHIT-" Lance's hand practically flew to the knob to the volume and twisted it.

  
"Goddamn, Lance," Keith cringed at the loud music. "Could you turn it down? Please, I'm not in the moo-"

  
" _Come on over, in my direction_ ," Lance began to sing. " _So thankful for that, such a blessin', yeah_."

  
Keith shut his mouth and quit complaining immediately. He'd honestly never heard Lance sing before, and so good, for that matter. He kept quiet and listened.

  
" _Turn every situation into heaven, yeah,_ " Lance continued to vocalize. " _Ooh, you are, my sunrise on the darkest day, got me feelin' some kind of way, make me wanna savor every moment, slowly, slowlyyyy-_ " Lance side glanced at Keith with a smile on his face, before turning his attention back to the road with a little wiggle. " _You fit me, tailor-made love, how you put it on, got the only key, know how to turn it on-"_

  
Right now, Lance was pretty much the only thing Keith was listening, and looking at. He stared, dumbstruck. Lance's voice was so... Smooth, soothing, amazing, beautiful, American Idol worthy, you name it. In Keith's eyes this was the most beautiful thing he'd heard from Lance, even though he knew good and well this song was absolutely filthy, but damn, Lance made it sound anything but.

  
_I gotta stop him before I do something I might regret, Keith panicked, feeling that one weird feeling that made his face heat up and insides twist and churn. Wait, I shouldn't? There's... There's no way I like him like that._ Keith looked surprised when Lance started singing in another language, " _Oh, tú, tú eres el imán y yo soy el metal, Me voy acercando y voy armando el plan."_

Again, his insides did all kind of flips. "Can we change it, please?"

  
"No!" Lance shouted over the booming music. "I'm singing it!"

  
"I don't give a fuck?" Keith snapped and turned the radio off with a huff.

  
Lance looked at him and blinked in surprise before looking back to the road. "What has a dick up your ass?"

  
"Nothing." Came Keith's response. "Didn't we just go over this about how I didn't want to talk about it?"

  
"No, we didn't," Lance said, recalling the events of this morning. "I believe you responded to me with the lie, 'It was hot'."

  
"Well, it was obvious I didn't want to talk about it," Keith barked.

  
"You don't have to be so anal about it!" Lance barked back. "I was just simply asking you what was wrong, goddamn."

  
Keith didn't say anything. He remained silent and glared out of the window. This is one of the many reasons why he wasn't really... _Close_ with Lance as he was the others. That boy always somehow knew how to push his buttons into the oblivion. Lance was always vie with Keith, too, which was really annoying. There was nothing to even compete against! He just did it, for the fuck of it! And oh, how that riled Keith up.

  
"Please just tell me what's wrong," Lance pleaded. "It can't be that bad, I'm for sure."

  
"I have... _Episodes_ ," Keith mumbled.

  
"What?" The confusion in Lance's voice rang. "You have seizures?"

  
"No!" Keith rolled his eyes and brought a hand to his face. "You're so fucking retarded. I meant like, with my Galra problems."

  
Lance still did not seem to catch on.

  
"It's almost like," Keith began to explain, shaking his head. He couldn't believe he just gave into Lance and was telling him about a personal problem. He was going to regret this, for sure. "It's like having a period, or something. It happens like every once in a while, you know? It'll happen sometime today, I know it will."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lance cocked an eyebrow. "What happens?"

  
"I'll show you. Just... Wait."

  
"Okay?"

  
A few minutes of another silence passed before Lance exclaimed, "Oh! Wait, so you're like a werewolf or something? Werecat? Something like that?"

  
"Something like that," Keith echoed.

 

Finally, they arrived to their destination. Lance had gotten off track a few times, because he had literally no idea where everything was, and Keith kept griping about "this is why I should have driven".

  
Hopping out of the truck, Keith immediately barked orders. "Okay, we need more bread, flour, sugar, milk, eggs, ice, drinks, I need some more pain medicine, get something you like, I guess, and I'll have to go and find feed for my animals. And make it quick, because they can't wait all day, nor can I. Here's a hundred dollars."

  
Lance nodded when Keith slapped the said money into his hand and they both dashed in opposite directions.

  
Keith didn't know why he lashed out at Lance. Maybe it was because of this morning?

  
He didn't sleep well, because of his little episode. It happened around the time he had went to bed, and continued nearly throughout the entire night. And also, the reason he had gone downstairs while Lance was changing, was because his ears were itching, and with a sudden horror, he rushed downstairs on quiet feet to look in the downstairs bathroom mirror, and sure enough, his ears were pointy, furry, and purple.

  
It was becoming quite a nuisance. And it was getting worse by the moment, too. And as bad as it sounds, he could tell his... _Heat_ cycle was coming up. He could feel it edging on into his body, and he hated every moment of it. That was when he realized something crucial with a sudden dread that made his face pale, he was sure. Lance was going to still be staying with Keith as he went through this. And he's pretty fucking vocal when he's in his heat cycle. Even though male felines don't go through a heat cycle. Maybe it was just a Galra thing, maybe both genders go trough a heat cycle? Fuck, he didn't know.

  
_I've got to find a way to get Lance away for a bit, just until my cycle is over,_ Keith sighed. _You've got to be fucking kidding me. Why is this happening?_

Keith had only ever been through his heat twice. The first time, he didn't even know what was happening. He just did what instinct told him to. The second time, he was up on the ship.

  
_Maybe I could get him to like..._ Keith thought as he browsed through the isles for his animal feed. _Shit, I don't know! How am I going to keep him out of the house that long? It will take hours before I can completely satisfy myself... I don't know if he'll agree to staying out that long, considering how hot it is and how lazy he is. Ugh, Lance, why do you have to be like this?! You just make everything more difficult than it should be!_

  
Finding the brand of horse feed he was searching for, he pulled it off the shelf and tucked it under his arm, continuing on his way.

  
_Hmm... I told Lance he'd be helping me around the place if he were to stay with me; that is the price he must pay. I could teach him how to do all the work correctly and teach him to ride a horse, if Nadia will allow it, she already hates_ me. _Maybe if I put him to work, he'll be out of the house long enough for me to do my thing. Hah, man, if I were to do that while he was still in the house, imagine if he heard me. He'd never let it go, until the day he died._

  
Keith had found three bags now. The tow being too heavy to carry with just his arms, he tossed them over his shoulder. As he came up to the counter, he set the bags down with a thud. When he looked up, he adjusted his hat, tilting it back slightly so he could see. He looked at the lady behind the counter who blinked at him with a flush on her face.

  
Keith smiled. "You gonna ring those, or what?"

  
She blinked herself back into reality. "Uh, y-yes, sorry." Quickly darting over to the giant bags with a barcode scanner in her hands. She scanned all three of them with a quick skill, before glancing up at Keith and dashing back behind the safety of the counter. "That'll be... Twenty-three dollars and fifty-six cents..." she mumbled, her voice fading into no more than a nervous whisper.

  
_Ah, shit,_ Keith cursed. _I left my credit card at home... Oh well, hopefully no one will break in._ He dug his hand in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Flipping it open, he whipped out thirty dollars and handed it to the lady. Taking the time, Keith glanced at her name tag and read "Aron". As she handed back the change, Keith tipped his hat to her and winked with a grin. "Have a nice day, Aron." He turned on his heel and walked out the door with his giant ass bags on his shoulder when he heard her mumble, "You too".

 

  
Lance was dashing down the isles and snatching the items needed off their selves and practically threw them into the cart. Except for the eggs, he was cautious with those. And the bread. He whizzed past couple of girls around his age who looked at him with confused looks, before mumbling something to each other under their breaths. But he did not give one fuck. He was 100% ready to get out of there.

  
He'd finally grabbed the last item in need of and zipped to the register. The girl looked at him with a raised eyebrow and glanced at his cart, before shaking her head and pulling the items up, ringing them, and stuffing them in bags, shoving them into Lance's arms. Lance smirked at her, "What's got your panties in a twist, lady?"

  
She only ignored him, continuing her business like he didn't just ask that question. "Ah, I see, getting up early, eh?"

  
Still, she said nothing. "Do you talk?"

  
"You ask a lot of questions, _sir,_ " the girl hissed, spitting venom out through her words.

  
"I bet you'd be answering a lot of questions if you came with me to the back of the store," Lance winked.

  
With a glare that seemed enough to knock Lance over, she shoved the bag of drinks into Lance's chest. He grunted and took them quickly with an uneasy smirk. "Total will be forty-seven fifty."

  
Lance frowned and dug out the money Keith gave him and pulled out fifty for her. She took it with an aggressive haste, then flicked the change on the counter for Lance to grab. "Have a nice day." Lance said as he snatched the money off the counter and stuffed it back in his pocket.

  
He stepped outside with a huff, the brick wall of hot air hit him and it seemed to take his breath away for a few seconds. Why is it so hot? Lance groaned.

  
As he approached the truck, he saw Keith already sitting there, seeming to be enjoying himself and the time alone. And what's worse, he was in the driver's seat. Oh no, Lance was driving, and that was final, he didn't care if he had to sit on that bastard. Actually, he would just rather sit back and relax. His feet and feelings hurt. Keith had his arms draped around the steering wheel, with his chin resting on the wheel. He flicked his gaze from the azure sky, to Lance.

  
Lance trudged weakly over to the back door of the truck, and when he opened it, he could feel that cool air hit his face. Quickly shoving all the groceries into the back seats, he shut it. He walked around the driver's side, his journey ending at the passenger side. Keith had a devilish smirk on his face, and Lance felt something funky go on in his chest. He looked at Keith with a suspicious glare. And before Lance knew it, Keith pressed a button on the door and heard a click of the doors locking, just as he'd set his hand on the door handle.

  
With a groan, Lance hit his head on the glass of the window, his hand hanging limply against the handle and he slumped pitifully, his other arm hanging uselessly by his side. "Keith, please unlock the door..."

  
Keith shook his head, leaning back in his seat.

  
" _Keith..._ " Lance groaned, looking up at the other male.

  
The red paladin blinked and shook his head, turning to the door and unlocking it, much to Lance's pleasure. Lance hopped in eagerly, plopping down into the seat with a sigh. He buckled himself in when Keith started to pull out of the parking lot. When they got onto the road, Keith turned the radio on and flipped through a few stations before stopping at one, which was currently playing, "Lights Out".

  
"Ew," Lance wrinkled his nose at Keith. "I don't want to listen to your edgy music."

  
"I'm driving."

  
Lance rolled his eyes with a slight smile.

  
A silence fell as they headed their way home.

  
"Are you planning to go to college?" Lance questioned, looking at Keith. "I think I might want to go."

  
"Wow," Keith actually seemed dumbstruck. "I did not _ever_ expect something like _that_ to come out of _your_ mouth."

  
"I'm being serious!" Lance exclaimed. "I feel so left behind in knowledge."

  
"You've always been behind in knowledge." Keith snorted.

  
Lance sighed. "Forget I said anything."

  
"You know I'm joking," Keith nudged the other male's shoulder. "Why are you wanting to go back to school?"

  
"I don't know," Lance shrugged. "I just feel like it should be something I should be thinking about doing while I have the time on Earth."

  
"What about getting a part-time job?" Keith asked.

  
"Not quite," Lance answered. "I'm not going to work myself to death. I'm just thinking about school at the moment, and that's what I want to focus on until I finish college."

  
"Oh, so you're planning to finish college?" Keith said, rather surprised. "Do you know how many years you have to be there to get a degree? Lance, I don't know if he have that much time here. You might not be able to do it. In a moment's notice, we might have to shoot right back up into space, back to defending the universe for many more years before you would get to finish college. I don't mean to discourage you, but I don't think you'd make it very far, with such a responsibility hung over your head."

  
"I know," Lance slumped in his seat a little. "But it's worth a shot."

  
Keith slightly smiled at Lance's courage, but soon dropped it when a shock of horror shot through him and turned his veins ice cold when he felt that familiar heat sweep over him. He could feel his ears starting to itch, and without resisting the urge to, scratched like a maniac.

  
"You got fleas?" Lance raised an eyebrow at Keith.

  
Actually, Keith didn't know how to answer that question. For all he knew, he could have fleas, for he was a fucking cat--werecat?--and you all know, animals can get fleas. But instead of answering that and only responded with, "No. It's that... Thing I told you about..."

  
Now his nose was itching. That was new. He started to rub his ear against his shoulder while scratching his nose with his free hand. He growled when his back started to itch. That was going to have to wait until they got home.

  
"Uh... Do you..." Lance started slowly. "Do you want me to drive?.."

  
"No, I've got it."

  
Lance only stared at Keith when he sped up, the turn to the driveway just within sight. Keith stopped scratching everything, constantly shifting uncomfortably, before looking around, and speeding as fast as he could. He only slowed when he was turning, but then sped back up as they went down the driveway. It didn't even seem like a minute before Keith was slamming on the brakes and yanking the keys out of the ignition, stuffing them into his pocket and jumping out of the vehicle.

  
"Lance, please get the keys," Keith pleaded, scratching under his chin. Lance did as told, and pulled the keys out of Keith's pocket before quickly fumbling with them, then unlocking the door and opening it. Keith practically jumped in, shredding himself of his hat and his shirt. "Fuck, Lance, scratch my back."

  
Lance thought this was getting a little weird. He sighed and directed the itchy Keith to the love seat, where they sat down. Keith had his back hunched and turned to Lance. Keith was rubbing his jawline, chin, ears, and face all over the cushions of the couch, a deep growl rumbling in his chest. Stretching his hands out, Lance scraped up and down Keith's back. The other male nearly purred, and arched his back further into Lance with a groan.

  
"Scratch harder." Keith demanded. Lance did as told, and dug his nails into Keith's skin. Lance glanced at Keith, who was looking back at him with a fuzzy wrinkled purple nose and glowing yellow eyes. His ears had even turned fuzzy and purple, which were flicked back. He noticed Keith had grown black claws out of his finger nails and toe nails. With a hiss, Keith said, "Goddamn, I got it." He reached his hands, or rather, claws, to his back and scratched with such ferocity, Lance was afraid he would rip his skin open. But in fact, it seemed to make purple fur poke out from the pores in his back. "Go get a knife."

  
Lance didn't even want to question, so he got up and snatched a giant kitchen knife from a drawer in the kitchen. He sat back down on the couch and Keith immediately demanded, "Scrape that down my back. As hard as you can."

  
"Fuck, Keith," Lance said breathlessly, before turning the knife horizontally and setting the edge to Keith's back, then put as much pressure on it as he could and tore it down the purple peach-fuzzed skin.

  
"It feels like I need to scratch every fucking pore."

  
Finally, Keith seemed to have had enough with his back, and shook himself from head to... Claw, when he stood from his spot on the couch. Lance hadn't even noticed, but Keith had sprout a long, fluffy purple tail, too.

  
"Uh, wow..." Lance said, leaning away from Keith.

  
Keith seemed upset by this. "What? It's not like you haven't seen galra before."

  
"I know, I've just... Never seen anything like... What just happened."

  
"...Right," Keith said, looking down awkwardly at the ground. With a twitch, Keith's breath hitched in his throat. _Nonononononono. This... It can't be happening now! No, please, I can't do this. I haven't gotten Lance out of the hou-!_

  
Keith whined, curling into himself slightly, his ears folding back and his teeth grit. He felt his eyes water as an intense wave of heat slithered down his entire body with such force, it felt like a tsunami of heat. He caught Lance's reaction, and felt so embarrassed. _ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!_

  
"Uh, does this usually happen?" Lance questioned slowly, tilting his head at Keith. He reached out a hand and put it on Keith's shoulder when the latter groaned in what was, a desperate cry, and a sob of pain combined.

  
Keith hissed and pulled his arm away, the sensation of Lance's warm hand making contact with his form made his skin tingle. "Don't... Don't touch me."

  
"Maybe you should lie down?.."

  
Keith plopped on the couch, and rolled himself into a tight ball, fighting back the instinct to touch himself with a whimper that tore from his throat. "Go get water."

  
Lance obeyed, and brought back a bottle of cold water. Keith tore the cap off and guzzled it down in no more but a few seconds. It calmed his nerves, but didn't get rid of any of the other symptoms. He took quick and sharp breaths through his nose, trying to even it out. He knew Lance must be confused out of his skull, but there was no way in hell that Keith was going to tell Lance what he was going through at the moment.

  
Keith stretched his legs, easing out the tension in them, but it came with a consequence; he realized Lance could probably see his fucking boner through his goddamn jeans. With a jolt, he stood and said, "I'll be in my room. Turn the TV up, _loud_."

  
With that, he turned around and darted up the stairs into his room, slamming the door with a force, it seemed to rattle the house.

  
Lance sat there and blinked, struck stupid. _What just happened?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone please help me i have horrible writer's block i feel as if i have displeased the writing gods  
> please i am really desperate for help i dont know where this story is going anymore ;v;
> 
> pls and ty for reading ;v;
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSznpyG9CHY << music to "Lights Out"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wave of heat hit him, and Keith sprung into action. He knew he had to talk to Lance, and quick, before that whole two hours of jacking off, trying to satisfy his heat, went to nothing. Dashing down the hallway, he rapped on the bathroom door a few times. "Lance? Lance, I need to talk to you, it's important. Get the fuck out here."
> 
> "Bitch, I am taking the biggest SHIT," Lance called through the door with a huff. "Your ass is going to have to wait a second. Goddamn."
> 
> Keith rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, letting himself slump to the floor. After more than a second--more like a minute--Keith finally heard the flush of the toilet, the spray of the air freshener, and the water running from Lance washing his hands. Finally, Lance stepped out of the bathroom and looked down at Keith. "What do you want?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finally finished this after many hours of sitting on the floor and having severe writer's block and homework and all that nonsense but i really hope this chapter isnt as shitty as i think it is!! i hope you enjoy!!
> 
> please help me i dont know whats gonna happen anymore
> 
> and please inform me of any typos and grammar errors

Lance shook his head, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand. He wanted to go up there and make sure Keith was okay, but judging from the red paladin's action, it deemed to be not such a great idea. So instead, he just sat back on the couch and stayed quiet. He knew Keith told him to keep the TV up, but Lance had let his curiosity get the best of him. He listened intently.

  
When a loud groan sounded, Lance grew red-faced and very slowly reached for the TV remote and flicked it on, turning it as loud as it would go.

  
He jumped off the couch when he realized they hadn't gotten the groceries out of the truck.

 

 

After carrying the groceries in, he'd gone back out for the feed that Keith had bought. He did not expect them to be this heavy. How did Keith carry all three of these at once?! Just carrying two at a time felt like Lance's back was going to give way. He had grabbed the last bag, bringing it in and setting it with the other bags, beside the trash can. With a sigh, he started to pull the groceries' contents out of their plastic bags and put them where they needed to be.

  
Lance didn't know what to do after he'd finished with all that. He stood there with his hands on his hips and tapping his foot on the ground. What you didn't know, was, at this moment, Lance was fighting back every nerve that told him to go up there with Keith. He bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck, the urge becoming stronger with each agonizingly slow second that passed. He turned his head to glance at the door to the bedroom, and his heartbeat quickened. No, he couldn't do this. There was no way he was going to.

  
With a hiss, Lance aggressively turned on his heel and walked over to the couch, angrily plopping on it, buring his face in the pillow that once, peacefully sat there. He decided it would probably be a while before Keith came back down, so he got comfortable, turning off the TV, rather hesitantly, and tried to fall into the gentle embrace of and uncomfortable sleep, with faint moaning and groaning echoing in the background.

 

 

Lance was awaken by the sound of a hiss and slight stumbling, which was followed by another hiss. He cracked an eye open and averted his gaze to the stairs, finding a distressed Galra Keith who had his back against the wall. Keith locked his piercing yellow eyes with Lance's blue ones for a brief second, before looking to the ground and taking a shaky step down the last step. "Everything alright?" Lance mumbled.

  
Keith only responded with a hum, before asking, "Why is the TV off?"

  
"I turned it off." Lance said, stretching. "Why?"

  
A deep crimson dusted Keith's face and he flicked his ears back in embarrassment. Well, what he thought to be a deep crimson, but right now it was a deep purple. "I told you to keep it on!"

  
"Keith, I knew what you were doing in there, regardless if I heard you or not."

  
"So?! Even if you knew, I don't think you'd want to be listening!"

  
"You never know," Lance clamped his mouth shut and brought a hand up to it. _Oh fuck, whoops._

  
"What?"

  
"Nothing I-I gotta go the bathroom!" Lance said quickly and sprang up and practically darted to the bathroom.

  
Keith blinked and tilted his ears forward slightly, keeping his gaze locked on Lance until he turned down the hallway and into the bathroom. _What was that? He just-_ Shaking his head, he wobbled to the fridge. The reason he was walking so awkwardly was... Well, the effects haven't quite worn off yet, but Keith had stopped in the middle of his session, because it depleted so much energy from him he was at the point of exhaustion, and he was hungry. But he knew he couldn't just stop and go to sleep, he'd never be able to in such a state, so instead, he went with the choice of grabbing something to satisfy his hunger, then returning to his business.

  
He hated going through these cycles, so much. You think it's funny, but for Keith, it was anything but. It was painful, and it was exhausting. The first time he'd had this, he was up on the ship with the others. He'd just been training when he had a strange wave of heat sweep over him. He thought it to be nothing but him getting hot and sweaty, due to the work out, so he thought nothing of it. That was, until when he finished his training session and was heading for a bite to eat, when that same wave of heat hit him again, but this time, it was rather painful, like a stab to the stomach. He grunted and leaned against the cold wall for support just as another wave hit him, harsher and angrier.

  
Instead of going to someone for help, he just retreated to his room. He sat on his bed as several waves punched and gutted him. It was growing worse by the minute, but he still just sat there cradling his stomach, hoping it would give out and everything would be fine. But it did the exact opposite of that. In fact, his ears started itching, as well as every pore on his body. So now, he was ferociously scratching himself all over as painful waves hit him. It never struck him this was something Galra go through, for they hadn't discovered that he was Galra until later on. He didn't change, though. He stayed himself, Keith. Not a purple house cat, thankfully.

  
He didn't know how to make it stop, but an idea sparked in his brain when he realized he had a little friend wanting to say hello in his pants. So he greeted that friend, tended to it for at least four hours, and with each time he orgasmed, that agonizing heat seemed to dissipate, until it dwindled down to no more than a buzz in Keith's abdomen, but even that, seemed to disappear the final time he climaxed.

  
Now in the present, it made a lot more sense for that strange session up on the ship. This wasn't something that happened very often. He hasn't quite figured out a pattern to his cycle, for this was only his second time going through it. But he was guessing it only happened once in a few months, hence it had only been a few months since they had gotten off the ship, and since he last had his heat.

  
Nobody knew about it, except for Shiro. He'd told Shiro about it, and the conversation had went rather awkward.

  
"Hey, Shiro," Keith had said as he approached the said male. "I need to talk to you about something. It's private, so I'd like to go somewhere where there's... Less people." He gestured to the other paladins eyeing the two. He could have swore on his grave that he heard Lance giggle to Hunk, "I think he's finally gonna confess", but all in all, he was much more worried about this than kicking Lance's ass at the moment.

  
"Sure." Shiro shrugged. As they were departing, Shiro had turned around for a moment and said, "Don't burn the ship down while I'm gone."

  
Keith lead him to the port, where all the pods were stationed at. "What's on your mind?" Shiro questioned, leaning his back against one of the pods and crossing his arms across his chest.

  
"There's... Something going on," Keith explained. "It's about me being half Galra, and all that... You know..." Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Okay... You know how cats are, right?"

  
"I do," Shiro knit his brow together. "But which part are you getting at?"

  
"Just, listen," Keith sighed, shuffling uncomfortably. "You know cats go through heat cycles, right? Well, yeah, I get them, unfortunately. I had one before we found out I was Galra, and I had no idea what was happening until... Well, you know. I don't know, I just felt like it was a crucial thing I should tell you."

  
Shiro blinked and kept silent for a second, before responding slowly, "Don't... Only female cats... Experience heat?"

 

Keith sighed. "Yes. But I don't know, maybe it's a Galra thing where both genders experience heat. They're... _We're_ not just like Earth cats, you know."

  
"Ah," Shiro said, pushing himself off the pod before clapping a hand on Keith's shoulder. "Thank you for telling me, Keith. Even if it was... A bit awkward, but thank you, nevertheless."

  
"Don't mention it," Keith shrugged Shiro's hand off his shoulder. "You can't tell anybody else, aside from Allura, okay?"

  
"Of course." Shiro smiled.

  
After that, the only souls that withheld this kind of information, was Keith himself, and Shiro. Actually, if Keith thought about it: if Lance was going to stay with him for who knows how long, Keith thinks that Lance deserves to know this information. But, before he did any of that, he just wanted to eat something. Swinging the refrigerator door open, he poked his head in and rummaged around. He realized that Lance had put up all the groceries. Keith looked around, and spotted the three giant bags of animal feed beside the trash can. A small smile crept onto his face, before going back to poking around for food. His tail weakly swished behind him as he tried to grab the package of bologna without ripping it with his black, shiny claws. With a frustrated hiss, he scooped the material in the palm of his furry hand, and simply tore it open with one tiny rake of his claw. Slipping a few slices out, he devoured them in less than two bites with each slice.

  
A wave of heat hit him, and Keith sprung into action. He knew he had to talk to Lance, and quick, before that whole two hours of jacking off, trying to satisfy his heat, went to nothing. Dashing down the hallway, he rapped on the bathroom door a few times. "Lance? Lance, I need to talk to you, it's important. Get the fuck out here."

  
"Bitch, I am taking the biggest _shit_ ," Lance called through the door with a huff. "Your ass is going to have to wait a second. Goddamn."

  
Keith rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, letting himself slump to the floor. After more than a second--more like a minute--Keith finally heard the flush of the toilet, the spray of the air freshener, and the water running from Lance washing his hands. Finally, Lance stepped out of the bathroom and looked down at Keith. "What do you want?"  
Keith abruptly stood from his spot on the floor and lead Lance to the love seat. He sat down and hissed, "Listen Lance, I feel this is very important, so do not fucking say a word until I finish, or I swear to God, I'm going to lock you outside with the cows." Realization hit him. _Fuck! I forgot to feed those poor fucking animals. Urgh, they can survive on grass, it'll have to wait._

  
"Fine, okay," Lance said with his hands held up defensively. "I swear, I won't even laugh at you."

  
"Good," Keith grunted with a flick of his tail. "Now, sit down."

  
Lance did as told, plopping himself on the couch next to Keith. "What's so important that you had to interrupt my shit?"

  
With a huff, Keith said, "You know I'm Galra and all that, yes. And you know cats have heat cycles. And I get them, unfortunately, and am going through one at this moment, and it is no fun running around trying to hide it from you while you're here."

  
Lance stared at Keith in what looked like disbelief and surprise. Then, slowly, he asked, "Don't only female cats go into heat?"

  
"Oh my God," Keith growled, his tail swishing in annoyance. "Yes, Lance, but as I told Shiro, it's probably a Galra thing, where both genders probably have heat cycles and all that. We're not like cats here."

  
Keith could tell Lance was biting back a cackle. He frowned and crossed his arms, tapping his claw on his arm. With a shaky breath, Lance responded with, "Right, okay. Well, if you want, I can help you with your... You know."

  
Shocked at Lance's reaction, that deep purple dusted his furry face again. "Uh... I don't know what you mean, but I'm really hoping you don't mean what I think you mean."  
Lance flushed as well. "Wh-?! Keith! No, I meant like, if you need me for anything, just call for me, alright?"

  
Keith had never heard Lance say anything like this, aside from that one time, Keith was suffering from the loss of Shiro. He smiled at Lance, nodding, "Thanks for understanding."

  
Lance nodded. An awkward silence arose, and Keith, at the moment, was fighting back a rough groan of pain, for his heat was growing excessively stronger, and more painful. With a grunt, Keith curled his tail around himself and rested his hand in his palm, while his other hand clutched his stomach. "I'm gonna have to go back up there... It's already starting to build back up, and starting to hurt. I'll come back down in hopefully about a couple of hours... I don't know. Just... Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

  
Lance looked at Keith in almost worry, but nodded, "Alright."

  
"Oh yeah, you think you could feed those poor beasts out there? Give them water, too."

  
"Uh, I'll try."

  
Keith stood and stumbled a bit, hissing at the strong wave of heat that just hit him. Lance also stood and put a hand on Keith's back, and his other hand on Keith's arm, supporting him. "Right. Thank you, Lance. I'll be... Gone now." Awkwardly shrugging Lance off, Keith retreated back to his room.

  
"Do you need any water? Something to drink?" Lance asked just as Keith was opening the bedroom door.

  
"...Yeah."

  
After Lance sent Keith back up into his room with a water in hand, he went straight to what Keith had asked him to do. It was surprisingly not a difficult task, aside from the fact a few of the goats tried to butt him and the chickens flapped and pecked at him. And the horse, Nadia, would try to nip at his hands and nicker in his ear. The cows... They were okay, thankfully. They didn't try to murder him like the others did, they just eyed him down for a second, then went back to their business, like he wasn't there, which he was grateful for. And getting to water out there to them.

  
After he was finished, that giant bag had nothing but crumbs left in the bottom of it. He rushed back to the house, throwing that big ass bag away, and flopping back down onto the couch. It was extremely boring, sitting here by himself, with nothing to do and no one to talk to. He didn't want to take another nap, he wanted to do something.  
Huffing and slumping into the couch, Lance reached for the TV remote and flipped the TV on.

 

Within that two hours, Lance had started dozing off a few times, before jolting himself awake. He blinked and looked around, searching for a clock somewhere in the room. His eyes landing on what he had been looking for, he strained to see the time. Two hours and a good thirty minutes had passed. Lance slumped back into the couch and sat back. Honestly, Lance had no idea how to feel about this situation. His emotions were rather scrambled at the moment. He thought he should be thankful to have an opportunity to finally make his move, but he also thought he ought to be extremely uncomfortable. He didn't know what to do. Keith was his friend, and even if Lance had a thing for him, that doesn't mean he would risk their relationship just because his emotions differ from Keith's. He was stuck.

  
And speak of the devil, Keith swung the bedroom door open and took a deep breath, before coming down the stairs. He was back to his normal self, thankfully. It was getting a little weird hearing Keith's voice come from a Galra. "Feeling better?"

  
"Of course," Keith yawned, clearly looking utterly exhausted and ready to collapse on the stairs. He carried his feet lazily, and his hand slid down the railing of the stairs limply. "Ya miss me?" Keith muttered with a stupid half-asleep grin.

  
"You have no idea." Lance laughed, shaking his head. "It was so boring sitting here all by myself."

  
"You could have like," Keith mumbled, finally making it down the last step, then plopping himself on the couch beside Lance. "Talked to me through the door, or something."

  
"Keith, you are aware of how weird that would be?" Lance raised an eyebrow at Keith. "Talking to you through the door while you jack off. Pfft, that's like carrying on a full conversation with someone who is fucking someone else."

  
"Then you could have joined me," Keith nearly dozed off in the middle of his sentence. "Or something."

  
Lance blinked. _Bitch, you know I would!_ "Say what, now?"

  
It seemed realization hit Keith, very slowly, however. Keith lazily raised his eyebrows and said, "Whoops. That came out wrong."

  
"I think you need to sleep," Lance said, sitting up to catch Keith just as the male had started to fall asleep again. "You're falling asleep in the middle of your sentences."

  
"Mmh, right." Keith muttered before practically passing out, letting his head flop onto Lance's shoulder. Lance looked down at Keith just as he barely whispered, "Thanks." Lance stared. He wasn't used to Keith being so worn out to the point where he said some of the riskiest shit and did some of the stupidest. He wasn't complaining at all, he actually quite enjoyed it. He thought Keith was rather cute in such a state.

  
But what really made Lance's face heat up out into the oblivion, is when Keith curled up into Lance's side, taking his arm and hugging it flush against his own chest, before nuzzling his face into the back of Lance's shoulder. But Lance really didn't want to be sitting here without anyone to talk to again. That was more boring than he thought for. It was legit like, only 11:35 A.M. He needed to find something to do, but he couldn't. Keith had trapped him. With a huff, Lance decided it was best to just get comfortable.

  
Lance glanced at Keith before leaning his head back on Keith's, but that's as far as he really wanted to go, even though every fiber of his being screamed for him to hug him close, with both arms wrapped around the other male, but he refused it, afraid that if Keith woke up, he would be upset about it and probably tell him to leave.

  
Fuck it, sometimes risks are totally worth it. Cautiously adjusting himself, that to not wake Keith, Lance hesitantly snaked an arm around Keith, hooking it under Keith's under arm. He slithered the other one between Keith and the couch, snaking it across Keith's back, before hugging him as close as he could. Keith's head now rest peacefully on Lance's chest, still hugging Lance's arm rather tightly. Okay, Lance started to question why he was so hesitant to do this. Keith was so warm and was great to cuddle with, even if he was unaware of it. How the fuck could someone be this perfect, and seem to be even more perfect, the more Lance learned about him? Although he knew Keith wasn't perfect, that made him seem all the more perfect to Lance, in such a way it hurt. Lance had been aching to get it out to Keith, but he was so deathly afraid that Keith would reject him, just like everybody else. And that, hurt more than anything else. Lance had been rejected many-a-times, but if it was Keith who rejected him? God, he didn't know he would live to see another day if that happened.

  
The warmth emitting from Keith practically lulled Lance into yet another slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please inform me of any typos or grammar errors
> 
> and someone please help me with the next chapter i dont know what to do


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What is wrong with you?" Lance spat. "Why are you acting so pissy all of the sudden?"
> 
> Keith froze at the foot of the stairs, his hand on the rail. "I don't want to talk about it."
> 
> "Well it's obvious you need to! You're being fucking ridiculous."
> 
> "You're the one that's being ridiculous," Keith grunted, continuing his trek.
> 
> "Really now?" Lance inquired. "I'm not the one who's huffing and puffing and stomping up to my room like a big 'ole bitch."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh sorry this is late im trying to update once a week but >:0

Keith reluctantly cracked his eyes open, the scent of a slight musk and cologne filled his nose. It was then he realized he had fallen asleep on Lance. That jarred him, but what was worse, was that Lance had his arms wrapped around Keith, and was hugging him impossibly close to his body. "LANCE WH-"

  
Before he could speak, he was cut off by Lance hugging him tighter. He didn't know if Lance was asleep or what, but he knew he wasn't going to continue to lay like this. Attempting to wiggle out of Lance's grip, Keith tried to loosen Lance's hold on him and slowly wriggle and twist out from the embrace of limbs. Once that was successful, Keith scooted as far away from Lance on the other side of the couch as he could. He stared at the blue paladin for a second, before blinking and shaking his head. Surely, this all had to have been an accident... Lance didn't mean to cuddle Keith like that, right? He was asleep, after all. You never know what people do in their sleep.

  
Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he looked out a window, and it was just starting to get dark out. _Wow,_ Keith thought. _A whole day wasted on masturbating and sleeping._

  
A gentle knock on the door sounded. Keith jerked his head to look at it with a raised eyebrow. It was uncommon to have someone coming and knocking on his door. He noticed Lance had jolted awake from the noise: it obviously had spooked him.

  
Grumbling, Keith reluctantly stood and slowly trudged over to the door. He unlocked the door, opening it to reveal quite a surprise. Shiro and Allura stood in the doorway. They were dressed rather nicely, but thankfully they didn't look as if they were going to the Queen of England's Royal Ball.

  
Shiro had that look on his face. That look that said, "I know what you were doing". Now, the thing that worried Keith was exactly what Shiro knew. Did he know he just went through heat? Or did he know that Keith and Lance had been... Shiro greeted the two males with a smile. "Hello, Keith, Lance."

  
"Shiro, Allura," Keith responded with a smile as well. When Lance didn't respond, Keith twisted his head to look at the blue paladin, but found he had already started to doze back to sleep. With a smile small, which, thankfully, was unseen by Shiro and Allura, he scoffed and looked back to his guests. "Come in." He stepped aside and took the door with him, inviting them couple in.

  
Shiro stepped in first, and Allura followed suit. Shiro looked around and cocked an eyebrow at Lance. "It's a little messy in here, sorry." Keith said, shooting a small glare at Lance, hoping that Shiro would understand why. And he did.

  
"Ah," Shiro smiled. "I see. So what's Lance doing here?" His tone of voice seemed to go from politely curious to smug.

  
"He's staying with me," Keith explain, obviously catching Shiro's intent of questioning. "Don't know for how long, though." When Shiro still had that smug ass look on his face, Keith rolled his eyes and directed his attention to Allura. "You've barely said a word. How are you?"

  
"I am well." Allura smiled gently, her pretty multicolored eyes sparkled every time she shifted in the light. "What of you?"

  
"I'm good as well." Keith glanced back at Lance. "A little frustrated, but good."

  
"Why's that?"

  
"That dork over there," Keith gestured to Lance with a small laugh. "He's too quick to make himself at home, I'll admit that."

  
Allura let a small laugh slip past her lips. "Right you are."

  
After an awkward silence, Keith blinked in realization, "Oh! You can have a seat, you know."

  
"We wouldn't want to wake Lance," Shiro looked over at the said sleeping male. "We'll be fine, thank you. And before you offer us something else, we will be okay. We're not staying all that long. We just wanted to drop in for a visit."

  
Keith honestly hated how Shiro could read him so well. "Alright." He said with a grunt.

  
"So what were you two just doing before we knocked?"

  
Keith froze and he knew his face grew a few shades of red, and this gave Shiro his answer, of course. "Nothing." Came Keith's response.

  
After a moment of silence, Shiro said, "Oh yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you. You mind?"

  
Keith's mind then started racing five miles a second. This couldn't be good. What did I do now? "Of course not."

  
Shiro nodded then took them into Keith's room, quietly shutting the door once Keith stepped inside. "What's going on between you two?"

  
"Say what?" Keith raised an eyebrow at Shiro.

  
"You and Lance."

  
"I don't know what you mean..."

  
Shiro sighed, resting a hand on his hip while his prosthetic ran through his hair. "Nevermind, we'll get to that later. Did you tell him about the...?"

  
"...Are you talking about...?"

  
"If we're talking about your little... _Problem,_ then yes."

  
"Yeah I have, actually. Just a few hours ago... Before we fell asleep."

  
"So you _were_ sleeping together." Shiro raised an amused eyebrow with a smile that showed the white shine of his teeth.

  
Keith's face flushed with a pink. "What? I didn't say that!"

  
"Not directly," Shiro smirked. "But you did."

  
"...Fine, maybe we did sleep together," Keith huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. He glared at Shiro as his smirk had grown wider. "But that does _not_ mean _anything_. I only fell asleep on him after... You know. I didn't expect him to _cuddle_ me! For all I know, he could have done it in his sleep and didn't realize it!"

  
"But you enjoyed it, no?" Shiro was starting to push it. Sometimes, he could be as equivalently annoying as Lance, but at least the guy knew when to cut the bullshit, unlike Lance. "You seem to have had a nice rest."

  
"I didn't even realize he'd been doing it until after I woke up, dumbass."

  
Shiro didn't respond, he only raised his eyebrows in a smug disbelief.

  
"But yes, I slept well..." Keith mumbled, averting his gaze to the side and scratched his neck, frowning and furrowing his brow. "I guess."

  
Shiro chuckled. "How do you feel about it?"

  
Keith then rubbed the side of his neck. "I suppose I can't be mad about it..."

  
"But are you?"

  
"No."

"Alright then, now the question I originally was going to ask: how do you feel about Lance?"

Keith fell silent, but Shiro pushed no further. He stood there in silence as well, awaiting patiently for his answer, and Keith knew Shiro would wait there all night if he had to. Sighing, Keith said, "I'm not sure."

  
Shiro got his answer, and he nodded, even though he wasn't satisfied with it, Keith noticed. "Alright, that's all I wanted to know." He smiled, resting his prosthetic on Keith's shoulder. "Thank you."

  
"Sure." Keith twisted his head and rested his gaze on the door behind him. Shiro must have gotten the idea, for he pulled his hand away and headed for the door. The moment Shiro opened it, Keith nearly darted down the stairs, desperate for that fresh air. With a lurch of his stomach, Keith looked over to the couch to find Lance awake and talking with Allura. Keith really didn't want to see Lance at this moment, noting that practically he'd just admitted to himself and Shiro that he did, in fact, care for Lance in more than one way. And boy, he was not happy with that.

  
Lance side-glanced at Keith before he turned his head to face him and smiled. "Hey Keith, you okay?"

  
"Fine." Keith grunted, slowing his steps. Lance blinked at him and scooted over, making room for Keith to sit. The red paladin grumbled and trudged over to the love seat, plopping down beside Lance.

  
"You still tired? Sore?" Lance asked rather quickly and worriedly. "You need anything to eat? Drink? I'll get it for you."

  
"Why are you asking so many questions?" Keith growled. "I'm fine."

  
"Well jeez, you don't have to be so anal."

  
This seemed to be Lance's new favorite thing to say. Keith didn't respond, he only grumbled under his breath.

  
"... Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

  
"Well, I am," Keith snapped. "There's no need for you to worry." He hated how close he was to Lance. He could feel the other male's arm against his shoulder, and Lance's leg against his own. But he really couldn't go anywhere except up and away. He was trapped between the arm of the love seat and Lance, and on top of that, Allura. Keith was lucky enough to just be able to fit on the couch. All three of them were squished together, making it rather uncomfortable, but the nice kind of uncomfortable. He didn't know what that meant, but he just assumed that he hated it and loved it all at the same time. But he dared not admit this to himself or anyone.

  
Keith was not in the least bit used to opening himself up to his emotions. He never liked to face them, and he never liked to embrace or accept them. He pushed them away, and allowed certain emotions to seep through, only on the occasions that seem necessary, for sometimes, his emotions were some of the craziest things, that they even confused him. The only person he had ever truly opened up to was Shiro. Shiro was not the judgmental type, and he listened. Keith loved and trusted the others, of course, but there was just... Something that held his true self back from them. If he did, would he still be the Keith they know and love?

  
He had lashed out unintentionally several times, and he felt so awful for it afterwards, he'd run off into the safety of his room or sit with his lion and she would calm him. But even then, everyone still seemed to act just the same around him as before. He didn't know why they didn't hate him and leave him to the stars when he barked, growled, yelled, and screamed at them, like everyone else in his life had. He was afraid to feel, because his gut told him it would all end in the same results. It would never be different; always the same.

  
Lance pouted and went quiet when Shiro came back down the stairs. Shiro looked up at the three of them, then directed his attention on Keith. The latter softened his scowl when he looked up at the male, then huffed through his nose, turning his purple gaze back to the area in front of him.

  
Shiro sighed, "Allura, I think we should leave..."

  
"Why?" Allura blinked quizzically at him, her long white hair shifting and falling as she tilted her head.

  
"I'll explain later."

  
"...Alright?" Allura stood and dusted her jeans and shirt. She smiled at Keith and Lance. "You boys have a nice night."

  
"You too." Lance responded, side-glancing at Keith again.

  
Shiro lead Allura to the door, their arms locked together. Just as Allura had stepped out of the door, the black paladin was starting to shut the door, before looking at the two other paladins. "Don't do anything crazy, alright? Goodnight, fellas." And with that, he shut the door.

  
An awkward silence passed. The two males were still pressed against each other, which Keith found displeasuring. Lance whipped his head around. "Keith, what's-"

  
"I'm going to bed." Keith cut Lance off, standing and practically stomping to the stairs.

  
"What? Why?"

  
"Because, I'm tired."

  
"But-"

  
"Goodnight, Lance."

  
"What is wrong with you?" Lance spat. "Why are you acting so pissy all of the sudden?"

  
Keith froze at the foot of the stairs, his hand on the rail. "I don't want to talk about it."

  
"Well it's obvious you need to! You're being fucking ridiculous."

  
"You're the one that's being ridiculous," Keith grunted, continuing his trek.

  
"Really now?" Lance inquired. "I'm not the one who's huffing and puffing and stomping up to my room like a big 'ole bitch."

  
"Lance, if you don't want me to strangle you right here, right now, I'd suggest you shut the fuck up and leave me alone." Keith glared at Lance, boring holes through his soul.

  
Lance laughed disbelievingly and shook his head, tossing his hand in the air. "Whatever. Go to bed." Lance grumbled something under his breath that Keith didn't quite catch, but he ignored it and marched up the rest of the steps, flinging his bedroom door open and slamming it shut when he stepped in.

  
Lance watched as Keith slammed his door and disappeared behind it. He winced as the sound echoed loudly throughout the house. Lance could feel his chest ache, and his eyes burned. Shit, was he really crying? _I'm such a baby..._

  
His bottom lip began to quiver, and he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand when tears were threatening to spill over. _I shouldn't be making such a big deal out of this... He's just mad about something, there's no reason to get upset just because he lashed out at you. That's the dumbest thing you can do right now. Are you serious? Why are you crying? I hate this._

  
When Lance started to hiccup, he shook his head and laid back down, trying to get comfortable on that small and uncomfortable couch. At this point, Lance was about ready to just sleep in the floor and wallow in his salty tears. _I'll just pack up and leave tomorrow. Keith will be happy to have me out of his house, since apparently, all I do is upset him and make him mad about everything. Agh, I knew I shouldn't have gotten a crush on him. I knew it would never work, and I don't know why I even tried. I'm so stupid! Lance let a quiet sob wiggle out of his throat as he wiped the hot tears that were now trailing down his face. Why are you like this? I told you, I told you, I told you, I TOLD YOU._

  
Lance's nose started to run, so now he was sniffling and hiccuping. _I'll just leave... As long as it makes him happy, I guess... Whatever, I don't care._

  
As his crying started to make his eyes burn and was draining his energy dramatically, Lance ended up crying himself to sleep that night.

  
And little did he know, Keith had as well.

  
Tsk, they're both such big babies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is rlly sho rt sohytgrfed
> 
> do inform me of any typos or grammatical errors pls i stayed up until one in the morning trying to get this done so there is like 99.99999999999999% chance that i over-looked something


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He unlocked the gate to Nadia's pin, and stepped inside. Nadia nickered and approached him slowly. Keith set the saddle on the fence, and cupped her chin and stroked her nose. "Sorry you had to hear all that. I didn't mean to blow up."
> 
> She flicked her ears as she stared at him.
> 
> "I should apologize."
> 
> She sputtered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> extra long chapter to make up for being behind on once a week updates >:00
> 
> please inform me of any typos or grammatical errors

Lance's eyes burned more than usual. Probably because he'd cried himself to sleep last night. Everything seemed a little fuzzy, but given some seconds, it started to come back to him in a dramatic sense. He sighed and let his arm dangle off the side of the couch. It was then he realized that Keith was sitting on the floor in front of him, watching TV, which was kept at a low volume, just low enough to be able to understand whatever people were saying. Lance didn't want to get up, nor did he really want to interact with Keith, so he just continued to lay there, watching TV as well.

  
_I'm still going to leave._

  
Yawning, Lance sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. And just as soon as he did so, Keith twisted around to look at the blue paladin, before practically launching himself at Lance. "What are you-"

  
Keith wrapped Lance in a tight hug, hugging him so tight Lance thought his air supply would be cut off. "Lance, I'm so sorry about last night. I, uh... Don't know what came over me." He sighed. "Please don't leave, I'm really sorry."

  
Lance looked down at Keith and blinked in surprise. With a flustered huff, Lance grabbed Keith's shoulders and pushed the red paladin away, forcing him to make eye contact. "I'll accept your apology when you tell me what happened."

  
Keith stared at him, his face drained itself of color. "I can't..."

  
"Then I won't accept your apology. I'll just leave, then."

  
Lance really knew how to push Keith's buttons, and this was one of his many ways of guilt-tripping him, and getting on his nerves all at once. He knew how to get something out of Keith that he wouldn't tell anybody. He knew how to get under Keith's skin.

  
Lance pushed Keith further away from him and started to stand. With a growl, Keith grabbed Lance's waist and forceably sat him back down. He glared at Lance and said, "This is something you're not going to get out of me, Lance. I would not tell you in a million years."

  
Lance's face flushed a dark pink, because Keith's breath was fanning across his face and his hands rested firmly on his hips. _Is he crazy?_ He swallowed the lump in his throat and said slowly, "Why not?"

  
"Because..." Keith paused. "...This is something that needs to work itself out in its own time before jumping to the point of it."

  
"What are you saying?"

  
"Nothing... Forget I said anything."

  
"Then I'm gonna leave."

  
"Why?"

  
"Your guest can't be mad at you and still remain in your home. That just doesn't seem right."

  
"Seems fine to me. You can be mad at me all you want, but please don't leave..."

  
Lance stared into Keith's purple gaze, which was filled with what looked more of terror than a sadness. _Is he afraid to be alone? Or does he..._

  
"Fine." Damn, that wasn't supposed to come out. _Oh well, too late now._

  
Keith broke from that terrified look and smiled in relief, sighing and letting his head flop onto Lance's shoulder. Lance could barely comprehend what was happening at the moment. He only stared down at Keith's dark hair, using every ounce of self-restraint not to run his hand through those soft locks.

  
God, Keith knew how to tug at Lance's strings just right without even doing it on purpose, and the blue paladin hated it so much, but couldn't get enough of it. In fact, he wanted more. Much more. But he dare not try anything on Keith, afraid that it would fuck everything up and Lance would never see Keith again because of his stupid actions. Lance hesitantly wrapped his arms around the other male, nosing his face into Keith's hair, which he thought was a bit of a risky action, but was rather caught off guard when Keith nuzzled further into him, catching his breath in his throat. He was hoping his actions gave Keith the hint of what Lance felt for him. If he were Keith, he would have quickly gotten the idea. But then again... If Keith didn't feel the same, he surely wouldn't be cuddled up to Lance like this.

  
A flicker of hope sparked inside Lance's chest when Keith relaxed in his embrace, his arms still remained around Lance's torso. Lance so badly wanted to place a gentle peck on Keith's forehead, but strongly decided against it, for that was much more of a riskier action than nuzzling into Keith's hair. Way more riskier. But he wanted to take risks. As he stared down at Keith, his heart thumped loudly in his chest and he felt as if his breaths were growing shorter. Each time he got a spurt of courage to kiss Keith, it would quickly falter into a fear that grabbed his heart and wrung it out like a wet rag.

  
"Lance?" Keith said slowly. "Are you okay? I can feel your heart racing like eighty times a second."

  
With a shaky woeful breath, Lance finally kissed the top of Keith's head. "It's... Nothing." He breathed afterwards.

  
Keith wasn't entirely prepared for that. He'd secretly been wishing Lance would do it, but he didn't actually expect it to happen. His chest swelled and he reacted without a second thought. Pushing himself out of Lance's torso and releasing him, he looked at Lance with a shocked expression. "What the fuck made you do that?!"

  
He could see it all over Lance's face that he instantly regretted his decision. Keith felt a twinge of guilt, but pushed it aside. Instead, an unexplained anger took its place and burst through when Lance stuttered, "I-I don't- I'm sorry."

  
"Right after I apologized to you!" Keith laughed disbelievingly. "Are you just trying to screw things up more than you already have?"

  
"Keith, I-"

  
"No." Keith shook his head. "Do, pray tell, explain what urged you to do that? What were you thinking?"

  
Lance swallowed the lump in his throat and blinked back the burn in his eyes. He took a deep breath. Well, there's no going back now. Now would be the best time to tell Keith. Let it all pour out, tell him about every little flutter in his chest when they locked eyes, tell him about every held back laugh of something he couldn't explain every time they hugged, every would be kiss if he hadn't restrained himself, every flower he thought to give to Keith but ditched the idea, every risky action that would have been taken, every smirk when Keith made a dorky move, every smile when Keith joked around with him, every blush that dusted Lance's face when Keith was close enough to touch.

  
After a silence fell upon them, Keith said impatiently, "What are you, mute? Fucking talk!"

  
"K-Keith, it was just a peck. Why are you so-"

  
"Don't dodge the question!" Keith spat.

  
_You can't get out of this one._

  
Lance sighed, "Keith I... I've been... Meaning to tell you... For some time, now. The reason I'm just now telling you this... I never would have thought of myself for... Having feelings towards you. Any kind, for that matter. I'm gonna regret this... I want you to know everything, alright? So just... Sit back and listen. And please don't yell at me. I know I made a mistake, I'm well aware, and I'm... Really sorry.

  
"I... Don't know how to explain this all too well. Every time I see you, I get all kinds of happy. Just seeing your face makes my whole day better. In fact, if anything, it's the grand highlight of my day. When I'm away from you for a while, I cannot begin to explain to you how much I miss you. Whether it be just a weekend, or a few whole months. I miss the others, don't get me wrong but... You're just at the top of the cake. I can't, and don't want to take my eyes off you.

  
"I love... I love the way you light up like a bulb when you talk to me about your interests: the way you smile and giggle over it, the way you talk about it with such a passion that I can't comprehend, the way you smile with your pretty white teeth. It gives me goosebumps. Your laugh sends shivers down my spine.

  
"Just making quick eye contact with you is enough to get the adrenaline to rush through my blood, down to my toes. Your eyes... Hah, they... They sparkle like an entire galaxy. They light up in such a unique way. I hated being up in deep space like we were on the ship, it was quite scary, I'll say, but I don't think I'd mind getting lost in your space. I want to get lost in there, and never find my way out... Sort of like Star Trek, if you think about it.

  
"And... Your personality... It never ceases to dazzle me in every way possible. I want to find and memorize every grain of sand in it, swim across all your oceans and ride every current in it, spend months on each of your deserted islands, walk through every mile in your cities, run through every one of your meadows, sit outside and watch your sunrises, touch every blade of grass, play every instrument, collect every rock, memorize your constellations, count all your stars, sing all your songs, take all your drugs, and discover all of your living creatures in there. It's like coming across a whole other planet, and I want to learn every little detail about it.

  
"God, you are like a drug. You're so addicting, and I just... I can't get enough of you. And if I did, I feel like it would be the possible end of me." He sighed. "I... There is... Ugh. To put it simply, I love you, Keith. I love you in more than one way... And I hoped you felt the same but, it's obvious you don't. So, I'll leave. I'm sorry." He'd been fiddling with his thumbs and staring down at his lap, so no, he didn't realize that Keith had been sitting there crying like a baby. Just as Lance started to stand, Keith started laughing hysterically, hiccuping along with his choked sobs.

  
Lance stopped in his tracks and stared at the red paladin. He stayed silent, not daring to interrupt the silence, which was only filled with chuckles and sobs.

  
Keith tried to stop crying and laughing, but failed accordingly. He ran his hands through his hair with frustration, gritting his teeth. He chuckled, "Get out."

  
"Where does it look like I'm going?"

  
"I don't know, Lance. It looks like you're standing in my living room!"

  
"I was leaving before you started losing your shit! What is wrong with you?"

  
Keith growled, "Lance, I told you to get out. And I mean fucking _now_."

  
"Alright, fine! I'm going, damn." Lance huffed sadly and sauntered into Keith's room, where he'd set his giant ass bag of clothes and whatnot. He stuffed all his stuff in there angrily, hot tears welled up in his eyes. _Keith is overreacting._

  
God, Lance had already lost Keith once, he sure as hell wasn't going to lose him again. He couldn't and wouldn't live with it. Shouldn't he at least try and talk with Keith before just giving up? He was fed up with the way Keith was acting, but maybe he could calm that angry fucker down and try to talk it out. But he continued to pack his stuff, just in case things didn't go as Lance would hope. The bag seemed as if it was going to explode. Lance hadn't taken the time to properly arrange his clothes and all that nonsense in there, so there wasn't as much room as before.

  
But then again, if he thought about it, he probably should take the time before going back down there into that shitstorm; give Keith some time to cool down.

  
With a huff, Lance took everything out again, and started neatly folding his clothes and arranging his stuff.

 

Quite a few moments had passed before Lance was finished packing, and every second seemed to make Lance feel worse and worse about himself. At this point, he really didn't want to go back down those stairs, just to feel Keith's eyes boring holes into Lance's back as he walked out the door, so was honestly deciding whether to take the window's route or not.

  
Lance sighed, standing from his knees on the floor and zipped up his bag, tossing it over his shoulder, holding the strap with his hand. He stomped down the stairs, avoiding the thought of making eye contact with Keith. But when he looked up, Keith was no where in the room. This really confused Lance and spooked him at the same time. What if Keith was gonna pop out of his hiding spot and murder him, like in those cheesy thriller movies? _Is this how I die? Dang, I was thinking I'd go out in style. Like, die in an epic space battle. Not because the dude I just confessed my feelings to wants to snap my neck for it. Oh well. I guess if this is how it ends, I can role with it. I feel like dying, anyway._  
_Lance poked around the entire living room, he even checked the bathroom, but still no sign of Keith yet. This was really starting to jarr Lance's nerves. Everywhere he looked the fear of Keith jumping out and stabbing him lingered in his mind longer, for some reason. Why am I so paranoid? I've known Keith for a long time. I've fought with him in battle and almost died in his arms before. He wouldn't do such a thing... Would he?_

  
_I've only been here for, what? Three days? And I've already fucked things up, like I always do. I wonder why Shiro or Allura hasn't kicked me off the team, yet, since I only make things worse and irritate everybody. No no, not kicking me off the team, more like throwing me out into deep space to freeze and suffocate to death, and let my lifeless body float around._

  
When Lance finally gave up, he huffed and shook his head, heading for the front door. The moment it was opened, a wall of heat smacked Lance in the face, stealing the breath from his lungs for a moment. Almost immediately, he shred himself of his jacket, letting it rest on his free arm. He shut the door behind him and sauntered to his car. When his hand descended onto the black metal of the car door handle, he flinched and brought back his hand with a hiss.

  
Lance huffed and carefully pulled the hem of his shirt over his hand, using it as a barrier against the sizzling hot metal. Successfully opening the car door, when it opened, it felt like the fiery wrath of a dragon in Lance's face, and again, it whisked his breath away. This heat was making him much more moodier than necessary.

  
He plopped himself in the scorching hot car, tossing his bag into the passenger's seat with a grumble as he dug in his pocket for his keys. Once he pulled them free, he stuck them in the ignition and twisted it.

  
The car sputtered, before cutting out.

  
Lance frowned and turned the key again, but again, the car sputtered and refused to start. He tried once more to be sure. When it didn't start Lance slammed his hands on the steering wheel, his forehead following afterwards. He almost cried right then and there. His eyes were starting to burn with frustration and his chest felt ready to shatter under such pressure of emotions that swelled inside him. _Could this day get any worse?_

  
Once he took a few deep breaths, he regained his posture. He didn't want to get out there in that heat again to check what was wrong with his car. _Maybe it was Keith that sabotaged my car. That brightass, now I can't leave. Then again, I don't think he could have done anything like that in that time... I don't know, ugh._

  
Lance sighed and stood from his car. He scanned the area for a moment before he surprisingly spotted Keith, who was sitting with his horse, Nadia. _Does he always do that? Weird... Well, I have no room to talk, I talked to a cow once._

  
Lance really didn't want to ask for help, but if he was going to leave, he had to.

  
You'd think that him previously being a part-time farmer, he would know at least a little about cars... Or modern cars, that is. But being stuck in Cuba with his poor family, and a poor country, they didn't have all those new fancy modern cars like other countries. They had those cars that you'd see in the 1990's, or later. He knew how to work with those fairly well, but not so much with modern.

  
With a grumble Lance reluctantly made his way to where Keith was sitting. It took a few moments before he finally, but cautiously, approached the distressed male. Lance was sure to be quiet, but wasn't sure enough, for Keith growled, "What are you doing?"

  
"I... I'm sorry but," Lance stuttered. "My car won't start."

  
Keith had been sitting with Nadia ever since Lance fled into his bedroom to retrieve his things to leave. He'd felt so awful for how he snapped at Lance, and wanted to escape it as soon as he could, and once that opportunity revealed itself, Keith took it in a heartbeat. He retreated to his one and only companion around his lonely place, and that was his horse, Nadia.

  
He knew it sounded odd, but she was his only way to get something off his chest. When Keith approached her, she whinnied and turn to look at him with a nod of her head. Keith smiled and leaned against the fence that held her. Nadia trot over to him and nudged his face, and nickered quietly in his face. With a small breathy chuckle, Keith stroked her muzzle and rested his forehead on hers.

  
"I think I messed up," Keith sighed to her. "I snapped at Lance the moment he confessed to me."

  
Nadia huffed and blinked at him. Of course she couldn't understand Keith, but he liked to believe she could so he wouldn't be so weirded out.

  
"I know I shouldn't have," Keith frowned. "But I didn't... Want him to think I... Fuck, I don't know what I think! I don't know what to think! It's so hard I... I don't know what to do. He'll never forgive me. I hate myself... I hate myself so much right now... I can't..." He sighed. "I don't know how to apologize to him. Should I, even?... Hah, sorry. That was a stupid question to ask. I know you can't give me advice because... Well, you're a horse."

  
Keith stood in silence for quite a while, just stroking Nadia's nose and trying his best to keep those hot tears from boiling over. He flinched when he heard quiet footsteps behind him. He knew it was Lance, but he dare not turn around, for he knew is eyes were probably red and puffy from being so upset to the point where he had to hold back tears.

  
"Why won't your car start?" Keith grumbled.

  
"I don't know," Lance huffed. "I was hoping you could tell me."

  
With a huff, Keith turned around and glared daggers through Lance's skull, removing his hand from Nadia's muzzle. "Why do you think I'd want to help you?"

  
"Because you want me to leave?" Lance spat. "Just do me this last favor, okay?! Is that too much to ask for?!"

  
"You can walk the fuck home, for all I care!" Keith spat back. Nadia snorted and dug her hoof into the ground. Keith reached to the side of him and pet the side of her mouth. "I told you to leave, I'm not here to help you."

  
"Keith, for fuck's sake! I just want your help so I can get out of here! Isn't that what you want? For me to leave?"

  
"YES!" Keith shouted. "I WANT YOU TO FUCKING LEAVE ME ALONE." Nadia neighed and shoved Keith's shoulder with her nose. Keith almost whipped his head around and glared at her, but kept his gaze steady when he said, "Please stop that."

  
The horse huffed and pushed Keith back with her big head. It was surprisingly forceful, enough force to make Keith stumble backward into Lance. Lance caught him, thankfully, but it seemed more of out of instinct.

  
Keith now set a glare on Nadia now, as she nodded her head and whinnied again. Keith wouldn't admit it, but he felt like she knew what she was doing, and that enraged him more than it should have. Keith wanted to stay and curl up in Lance's warm embrace, but you know how it usually goes. With a growl, the red paladin practically launched himself from Lance's arms and glared at the ground, before walking in the direction of Lance's car.

  
Keith walked a little too fast, and occasionally Lance would have to jog to catch up to him, although he knew good and well Keith didn't want Lance anywhere near him right now, but he followed anyhow. Once they arrived to their destination, Keith practically flung the hood of the car open with a huff. He poked his head inside and looked around for a moment. Once so, he found the problem, but didn't say anything to Lance about it. His fuel filter was clogged. He honestly didn't want Lance to leave. He wouldn't admit it usually, but for once, he did, admit that he didn't want to disclose his feelings, but at the same time he doesn't want Lance to go. He wanted him to stay, watch a few movies maybe, eat together... Cuddle... Sleep together...

  
Keith shook his head with a frustrated grunt. He made his decision; "You need a new engine."

  
Keith could practically see the volcano that erupted on the top of Lance's head. "I can't afford that!"

  
"Yeah? Well get a job."

  
"It's not that fucking easy! I can't get home, now!"

  
The red paladin didn't want it to seem to Lance that he wanted him to stay, so he continued his act. "Yeah you can. How do you think people without cars got around? They fucking _walked_ , Lance."

  
"Quit being a smartass! Do you know how far away New York is?!"

  
"Yes. But how do you think people without cars got arou-"

  
"OH MY GOD KEITH I FUCKING GET IT YOU DON'T HAVE TO KEEP SAYING THAT."

  
"I ONLY SAID IT TWICE."

  
"TWICE TOO MANY."

  
Keith snarled and slammed the hood shut, a glare that sent Lance the message: I imagine I'm slamming this hood shut on your stupid little head. He mumbled under his breath angrily, "God, I fucking hate you sometimes", but thankfully Lance didn't catch it; he was too busy being pissed off. Keith sighed and removed his hand from the hood. "I guess you can stay, since you have no fucking choice."

  
"You could always drive me home, smartass."

  
"There's no way on this great green earth I'm _ever_ being stuck in a car with you for that long."

  
"You're so fucking dumb."

  
"You're dumb, too, dumbass."

  
After their little outburst died down, an awkward silence fell, both males had their arms crossed over their chests as they looked in different directions, looking at anything but each other. Lance stared at the dirt under his feet, while Keith stared over at Nadia.

  
Keith sighed and slowly turned away from Lance. He felt the blue paladin's eyes flick back up onto him, and he said quietly, "I'm going for a ride. There's... Food in the fridge if you want anything."

  
"I know that," Lance grunted before turning on his heel and back into the house. Keith flinched when Lance slammed the door shut, and he could faintly hear the other male's colorful string of curses.

  
Twisting his head back slightly, Keith stared at the door for a moment, rather sadly, before dragging his feet back over to Nadia. Before his trek was completed, he turned to the garage and grabbed his saddle and everything else, then made his way back.

  
He unlocked the gate to Nadia's pin, and stepped inside. Nadia nickered and approached him slowly. Keith set the saddle on the fence, and cupped her chin and stroked her nose. "Sorry you had to hear all that. I didn't mean to blow up."

  
She flicked her ears as she stared at him.

  
"I should apologize."

  
She sputtered.

  
"Yeah." Keith sighed and released her muzzle, turning to the saddle he'd set down, and grabbed the the small blanket underneath it. He tossed that over her back and smoothed it down, being sure it was flush against her, before turning and putting the saddle over it. He tightened the loops around her belly, double checking to make sure it was tight, but not too tight. Grabbing the horn of the saddle, he wiggled it around a bit, checking to see if it moved too much. Once he was done with that, Keith trudged back over to the fence and grabbed the reigns, then turned back to Nadia. She shook her head and leaned down to graze.

  
"Oh, no you don't," Keith chuckled. He leaned down and put a gentle hand under her chin, slowly raising her head up. He carefully put the metal in her mouth and attached and buckled it together. He smiled at her when she huffed and scraped her foot in the dirt under her. Keith rubbed her neck and pat her shoulder before putting his boot into the stirrup, his hands on the horn of the saddle, leaning forward and hoisting himself onto Nadia, then putting his other boot in the other stirrup. He grabbed the reigns and gently nudged her hind leg with the heel of his boot, urging her forward.

  
Nadia snorted and started forward, walking through the gate Keith had left open for her. It was then he realized he forgot his hat in the house. He really didn't want to go in there while a pissed off Lance was resting in there, or whatever horrible act he was doing. But fuck, he wasn't going on horseback on a hot sunny summer day and roast like chicken tenders out here. Keith flicked his boot back again on Nadia's thigh, and she obeyed his command. She morphed into a trot to the house.

  
It wasn't too long before they arrived, and Keith hopped off of his gray steed. He flung the door open and stepped inside quickly. He spotted Lance sitting on the couch and accidentally caught his eye, but shook it off when he grabbed his hat from the kitchen table, where he did not set it last. Lance must have moved it, and he's just now realizing. He also forgot to throw away that plastic water bottle he drank a few days ago, so he quickly grabbed that and tossed it in the recycling bin before turning back around to see Nadia's giant gray head poking in from the open door.

  
Keith shook his head and rushed back over, taking his hat and shooing her away. "Get out, c'mon."

  
She backed up a few steps, leaving just enough room for Keith to get out of the house. He reached for the knob behind him and shut the door, setting his hat on his head while so. He swiftly hopped back onto her back and pulled the reigns to the left, telling her to turn around. Again, she obeyed his command and twisted her body around to face the open, and shortly after, Keith urged her forward again into a trot. They traveled down the dirt driveway.

  
Now, at this moment, all of Keith's thoughts and emotions came slamming into him like a wave from a tsunami. He released the reigns and shouted, bringing his hands up to his face. "I'm so stupid," Keith's voice wavered and cracked slightly. "I can't believe... This is all my fault. If I wouldn't have blown up at Lance like that... Who knows what would be happening right now. Probably not this. And why, _why_ did I lie to him about his car?! I thought I wanted him to leave! I do, but I don't... I don't want him to leave. I don't know what to think, anymore. I feel like I'm losing my mind."

  
Since there was no one to really talk to, there wasn't much noise, and to be truthful, Keith was practically talking to himself. "Why can't I decide how I feel about him? It shouldn't be that difficult. Why is it so difficult?!" Keith took a shaky breath, letting his hands fall from his face and back onto the reign, wrapping the loop of it around the horn of the saddle and holding it there.

  
Right about now, just now realized that phones existed, and he just so happened to have one in his right pocket of his jeans. He scrambled for it and whipped it out. He let Nadia have a little freedom of herself while he did this, so he slowed her to a walk. He kept one hand firmly on the horn of the saddle, just to be sure he wouldn't fall off.

  
He turned his phone on and quickly unlocked it, only to get on Skype and search for Pidge. "the pigeon goes ooru", he found and smiled to himself and shook his head. He texted her in a state of panic, which was unusual for him.

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:24 PM): Hey, I need to talk to you_

  
He waited a moment before the little "bloop" noise sounded. Again, he looked down at his phone.

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:30 PM): h sorry i was doing smthn ;;_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:30 PM): what ya need buddio?_

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:30 PM): It's something to do with Lance. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this conversation, alright?_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:31 PM): lance is there??? or are you there with him??? tell him i said hey_

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:31 PM): He's here with me, and that's the problem_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:31 PM): oh no_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:31 PM): did you run him of f_

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:32 PM): No, but I came close to_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:32 PM): so he's still there??_

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:32 PM): Yes, he's still here, and I'm about to tell you why_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:32 PM): alright_

  
It was a few minutes before Keith finally typed a long ass paragraph explaining what just happened, and what he was doing now. And surprisingly, he went into very little detail about how he felt about the situation, which he normally wouldn't have done. Now it took a couple more minutes before Pidge responded.

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:41 PM): aaAAA HE FINALLY DID iT-_

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:41 PM): Help me now, freak out later_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:41 PM): right sorry_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:41 PM): you definitely got yourself in some situation_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:41 PM): i cant quite tell you how to get out of this one bc ive never had a problem like this_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:42 PM): but i do think you need to tone your temper down a bit, i think you were a little too harsh on lance_

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:42 PM): I think it's a little too late for that_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:42 PM): well yeah i know that. i honestly think that you should go back and apologize to him, and tell him how you feel_

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:43 PM): I don't know what to feel_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:43 PM): keith quit being edgy for two seconds please im trying to help you and it would help a ton if you just listened to me_

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:43 PM): Fine_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:44 PM): go back to the house and apologize to lance. do it however you think is best, make him a cake with "im sorry i yelled at you after you confessed all your feelings to me" written on it in icing, write an apology note, apologize to his face, and tell him how you feel. i promise, you wont regret it, noting how you return the affections_

  
Keith sometimes hated how she was right in almost every way. And he especially hated how she was right in this situation.

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:44 PM): You know I couldn't do that. It'll hurt my dignity :)_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:45 PM): itll hurt your dignity either way but more so if you dont do anything about it :)_

  
_Your casual 90's kid (12:45 PM): I suppose you're right_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (12:45 PM): hell yeah i am, now go get em tiger_

  
Keith rolled his eyes with a huff, stuffing his phone back into his pocket. He grabbed the reigns and tugged them to his right, turning Nadia around and headed for the house, urging her into a gallop. Keith was readying himself for the shitstorm that was about to occur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh this was painful to get done lmao but i hope ya enjoyed it nevertheless  
> also pidge's skype name may or may not be mine ;0
> 
> please do inform me of any typos or grammatical errors thx <33


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance started laughing.
> 
> Keith glared at him, but kept his temperature down from boiling over. He wrinkled his nose along with his glare, and you would think that the force of Keith's glare would have wrapped an invisible hand around Lance's throat, but the male only continued cackling like a hyena.
> 
> "You are-!" Lance managed to get out between bursts of laughter. "Fucking terrible... At-At this!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> am i late again?? i feel like i am >:'0
> 
> hi yes im going through a lil stage where all i do is sit in my room and cry for absolutely no reason and bore myself into a depression so ijuhygt sorr for short chapter ;;

As Keith headed to the house, he began to recite how he was going to apologize to Lance, and he couldn't even start to tell you how scared he was at this moment. Sure, he'd looked Death in the face many times and even tried to sacrifice himself once. Yes, he had been scared shitless and it left him shook later on. But Death wasn't a person, and couldn't yell at him and judge him for something he did to someone; couldn't hold a grudge on him and hate him. It wasn't someone he cared about, and wanted them to think he was perfect in ever way, like he didn't make mistakes and was right all the time. And it certainly wasn't Lance.

  
Right about now, Keith seemed more afraid of Lance than Death. It was a strange thing to admit, he'd say, but he could care less about how he felt. All he knew was that he was scared shitless of Lance, and really didn't want to face him.

  
Meanwhile, back at the house, Lance was texting Hunk, asking him if he would come pick him up. Hunk denied him, the excuse being that he was busy with something. And what was odd, was that Pidge surprisingly texted him soon after. Lance raised an eyebrow and went to check it out.

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:05 PM): hey_

  
_lover boy lance (1:05 PM): hey?? what made you decide to talk to me??_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:05 PM): well first, youre my friend and it would be considered rude not to talk to your friend, and second, i need to talk to you about something important_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:05 PM): is keith there??_

  
_lover boy lance (1:06 PM): no?? why?? and how did you know i was with keith?_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:07 PM): long story but ill get to it later_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:07 PM): look, i just talked to keith about_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:07 PM): some things_

  
_lover boy lance (1:08 PM): like?_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:08 PM): i dont know if i should tell you bc this is something that you two need to work out on your own_

  
_lover boy lance (1:08 PM): did he tell you about what happened??_

  
_lover boy lance (1:08 PM): now i'm definitely going to kick his ass >:0_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:09 PM): yes but see, keith was telling me how he felt_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:09 PM): which was surprising bc hes not one, in my eyes, to do that_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:09 PM): and it was surprising he came to me and not shiro who im pretty sure hes closer to than anyone else on the team_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:09 PM): keith trusts shiro with his life, and rn i dont blame him_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:10 PM): he told me not to discuss this with anyone else, least of all you but here i am :')_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:10 PM): sorry keith ily my bro dont hate me_

  
_lover boy lance (1:11 PM): wow_

  
_lover boy lance (1:11 PM): i cannot believe keith's cowboy ass right now_

  
_lover boy lance (1:11 PM): he told you everything??_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:12 PM): yes and im v proud of you lance_

  
_lover boy lance (1:12 PM): are you fucking kidding me?! i didn't want anyone else to know about this, and i would have suspected he wouldn't either_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:12 PM): its not his fault_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:13 PM): youre the one who didnt say anything to him about it_

  
_lover boy lance (1:13 PM): it wasn't my fault either!! he's the one who yelled at me and didn't leave any room for me to defend myself_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:13 PM): oh_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:13 PM): well he didnt tell me that so ig that makes more sense_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:13 PM): sorry_

  
_lover boy lance (1:14 PM): is this all you wanted to say, or is there more?_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:14 PM): theres more but i dont know if i should tell you_

  
_lover boy lance (1:14 PM): at this point, i don't even think it matters_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:14 PM): yes but i dont want to go behind keiths back anymore than i already_ _have_

  
Lance stared at the phone screen and watched the little dots at the bottom left corner of his screen appear and disappear. He smirked. He knew how to get under her skin without even being there. So he sat there and waited. He didn't respond. Didn't even start typing in the message box. He just waited.

  
It was quite a few moments before he got another text.

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:20 PM): fuck it_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:20 PM): look keith just_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:21 PM): agh i cant do it_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:21 PM): hes already a few meters away from the house anyway youll see then_

  
_lover boy lance (1:22 PM): wh?? he's still texting you??_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:22 PM): yes you jealous?_

  
_lover boy lance (1:23 PM): no, it just pisses me off even more_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:24 PM): why??_

  
Lance didn't respond to her question, and instead, shut off his phone and set it in his lap. His phone vibrated and lit up with one more text from Pidge;

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (1:25 PM): oh yeah, i told hunk not to pick you up for this exact reason hope youre not mad <3 :)_

  
Lance scowled and tossed his phone on the table in front of him. He could hear the loud thumps of Nadia's hooves pounding onto the dirt, and that was when he grew nervous, but only put him closer to the edge.

  
He heard the door open, but didn't even think about turning around to give a glare. He didn't even really want to see Keith. He just wanted to go home and get back to loving on his mother and eating her amazing homemade brownies...

  
The rustle of clothes and a small sigh was the only other sound in the room after the door opened and closed, besides the TV. Lance watched Keith from the corner of his eye as the male came into peripheral vision. The red paladin set his hat on the back of the couch, where he left it last time, then kicked off his boots when he sat down on the couch. Lance decided to ignore him, therefore continuing to watch TV.

  
Keith didn't say a word. He sat there as well, and kept his eyes on the screen. It was beginning to get a little awkward but, for now it would have to do for Lance. He wasn't complaining at all, really. He wanted to see Keith, but at the same time, he didn't want Keith to ever return from his horse ride again.

  
A long silence passed, as neither of them said a single word, and the only thing that filled that awkward silence was the sound of the television.

  
After a moment, Keith huffed, "Lance-"

  
"I don't want to hear it."

  
"You didn't even know what I was gonna say."

  
"So?"

  
"Well suck it. You're gonna listen to me whether you like it or not."

  
Lance snorted, refusing to look at Keith. He kept his eyes glued to the television screen.

  
Keith sighed, "Look, Lance, I'm sorry I snapped at you like that. I know I shouldn't have done that, but me being stupid, I panicked and took the quick way out of the situation, which apparently only made it worse."

  
When Lance didn't respond, Keith continued, "I know you're mad at me. All of this is my fault, and I didn't mean for any of it to happen the way it did..."

  
Keith paused to swallow the lump in his throat. Honestly, he was kind of glad Lance wasn't looking at him. It made it a little easier to apologize and get things out to him. "...I uh... Don't know... But I... Feel the same, Lance, and I don't know if I should." Keith spat the last bit of that sentence out quickly.

  
That was when he grabbed Lance's attention.

  
Keith gulped and continued slowly, "The reason... I lashed out at you like that... I don't know how to really... Come to terms with my emotions, as I'm sure you've noticed... Throughout the years, you've known me. Yes, I'll allow some emotions to show through, and I'll accept them and come to terms with them. But when I do, I usually retreat to my room or some where private, where no one will see me.

  
"But this... This is a whole other story. I don't know how to cope with emotions like this. Feelings for you? Of all people, it had to be you. I find it unacceptable and outragous. I told myself over and over I would not get attached to you in such a way. But... Here I am. And I now realize... I have no need to hide. I don't know why I do it, when I know it's only a natural thing humans do. Hah, then again, I'm not really human, but whatever. I strived to be the guy you wanted without realizing it, so I hid everything I felt, because I didn't want you or anyone else to know.

"I, uh... I guess..." Keith sighed. "I love you too, Lance, and I hope you'll forgive me."

  
Lance started laughing.

  
Keith glared at him, but kept his temperature down from boiling over. He wrinkled his nose along with his glare, and you would think that the force of Keith's glare would have wrapped an invisible hand around Lance's throat, but the male only continued cackling like a hyena.

  
"You are-!" Lance managed to get out between bursts of laughter. "Fucking terrible... At-At this!"

  
"Well shit, Lance," Keith frowned. "What did you expect me to say? Yours was cheesier than mine! Confessing to me as if my mind was a different planet? Who the fuck thinks of that?!"

  
"At least it was decent!" Lance wheezed. "Goddamn... You really need a better choice of words when it comes to stuff like this."

  
"I didn't have time to!" Keith pouted. "If I would have waited any longer to figure out what I was gonna say, you would have gotten more pissed at me and you would have left!"

  
"How in hell would I have left?" Lance breathed, taking deep breaths to even his breathing back out. "Do you not remember my car?"

  
Keith paused. "Yeah... About that..."

  
Lance stared at Keith quizzically when his tantrum of giggles had died down. "So you _did_ sabotage my car."

  
"What? No." Keith shook his head. "I only lied to you about what was wrong with it. The only thing wrong with it was your fuel filter was clogged. Nothing was wrong with your engine."

  
Lance stared in silence while a small flush crept onto his cheeks. "Did-"

  
"...Yes, I said that to get you to stay. I didn't want to... Disclose my feelings for you."

  
A small smile curled the corners of Lance's lips upward, and his chest swelled with that same feeling he felt when Keith had returned after leaving the team for quite a while. He felt like crying, now. Like, a happy cry.

  
Keith rolled his eyes and avoided Lance's gaze, frowning at the TV, while the other male struggled not to cry. Lance thought it was not really much of something to cry about, so he held his ground and held the tears back as well. He didn't want Keith to see him as the kind to cry over little things. Keith had only confessed to him that he wanted Lance to stay. It shouldn't be something big.

  
But it sure did seem big to Lance.

  
"Before we do anything," Keith started with a sigh. "I think we should think this through before jumping into things, okay?"

  
"Alright," Lance sniffled. "That sounds good to me."

  
Keith glanced at the time on his phone, which was, as you probably already know, around two in the afternoon.

  
The red paladin flicked his gaze back to Lance, who was wiping his face with his hand and shaking his head. _What a drama queen. He's so sensitive..._

  
Keith smirked. Bet he's sensitive in more than one way... And I have a weird urge to find out.

 

A few hours had passed after their little discussion. And it was surprisingly not as awkward as Lance thought it would have been. They weren't angry at each other anymore, thankfully. After Keith had went to put up Nadia, Lance had started to whip up some lunch while so, hence breakfast had already long since passed.

  
Lance was in the kitchen, of course. He was cooking something special for him and Keith. He thought it would be a nice change of taste for Keith, wanting him to try some of Lance's favorite Cuban dishes. One he was cooking now, Empanadas de Camaron (Shrimp Empanadas).

  
Lance had went to the store to get some ingredients real quick and came back to make some homemade dough shells. While he was there, he had written all the ingredients down on a small sheet of paper. He grabbed a sweet onion, some garlic, a tomato, cumin powder, ancho chili powder, shrimp, Valentina Salsa Picante (Mexican hot sauce), honey, jalapenos, cilantro, red peppers, a lime, white vinegar, and olive oil. In all honesty, Lance was surprised that the store had all the foreign spices and whatnot there.  
Once that was out of the way, he began to mix things up and get to cookin', all before Keith came back from his ride with Nadia.

  
He'd assumed that he didn't go and put Nadia up, but instead went to finish his ride with her, maybe some chores on top of that. He knew that Keith, probably having years of experience, would be finished with all that in no time.

  
But Lance could work with his cooking magic, and hopefully get things done before Keith got back. He wanted to surprise the guy with something new.

  
After the food was done, he quickly began working on the honey picante sauce. He couldn't find a damn sauce pan anywhere, so he went with a frying pan as his only hope.  
He let that cook while he went to put everything on a plate and fixed the table. Lance put three empanadas each on two plates. One plate was set on one side of the table, the other the opposite. The blue paladin had a stupid grin on his face the entire time he was preparing. He didn't know why he was so happy, but he was.

  
The timer on the stove went off, and Lance pranced over to turn the eye off. He grabbed the handle of the pan and shifted it onto the other eye, letting it cool down, while he turned his attention back to the empanadas. He scooped up the seasonings in his hands, and sprinkled just enough of each on the empanadas. Lance cleaned the table off, aside from the dishes.

  
After a few minutes, Lance decided that the sauce had cooled enough, so he took a large spoon and scooped the sauce up and let some slide off of the utensil and onto the plates.

  
Now, everything was finished, and boy, he couldn't wait to dig in. But then again, he wanted to eat with Keith, so if he wanted that, he was going to wait. Lance set his mind to something else while he waited, and that was cleaning the mess he made. He washed the pan he completely obliterated with his sauce. Soap covered his hands as he scrubbed the pan with a sponge, trying to get all the grime off.

  
It took a while to prepare the dish, and for Keith to get back, so by the time the shrimp empanadas were done, it was around 5:50 at night. _So much for lunch..._

  
His smile widened when he heard the front door open and a small huff in the living room. "Why does it smell like Mexico in here?"

  
"Empanadas de Camaron," Lance responded, trying to shake off the grin that plastered his face.

  
"...What?"

  
"Shrimp empanadas," Lance said again, glancing back at the other male, who looked like he was glistening with sweat. His gaze quickly flicked back to the pan when Keith's eyes stared over at him.

  
Lance washed the pan quickly now, and in no time, it was as shiny as ever. He dried his hands with a paper towel, then turned to Keith after he tossed that in the trash can. Keith had taken his hat off and put it where he usually put it before poking around the table, admiring the dish Lance prepared with a curious expression.

  
"You'll like it," Lance said, sauntering over to the table.

  
"What if I don't?" Keith teased.

  
"You'd be missing out on some good shit," Lance pulled a chair out and plopped down in it. "But more for me, I guess." He shrugged.

  
Keith sat down as well, his eyes scanning over the plate that sat in front of him. He tilted his head as he examined it. Lance waited, raising an eyebrow at the red paladin. Keith glanced up from his plate to Lance, then awkwardly looked back down when they unintentionally made eye contact. Picking one of the empanadas up with his thumb and index finger, Keith brought it to his lips and bit into it. The moment he bit it off, he exclaimed through the mouthful, "Fuck, this is good!"

  
"Told you." Lance grinned, picking up his own and began to feast as well. "Mama used to make these all the time. They're way better than mine, I'll tell you that."

  
"I wouldn't doubt it," Keith smirked at Lance through his mouthful.

  
"But my sauce is better." Lance quirked. "Why don't you try it?"

  
Keith rolled his eyes and dipped the empanada in the honey picante sauce, before taking another bite from it. Lance could practically see Keith's eyes light up the moment his tongue made contact. "Lance, this shit is so amazing. Why the fuck have you never made these before?"

  
Lance cocked an eyebrow. "Well, for one, we didn't have all this kind of stuff in space, and I never thought of it until now, dumbass."

  
Keith only shook his head in response, silently continuing to finish his meal, and Lance followed his actions.

  
The hiatus of conversation settled in between the two as they ate in a rather awkward silence, the only sound being soft crunching. They would exchange glances here and there; one would look at the other, and quickly away when they glanced back. It was a repeated action throughout the meal, but otherwise they kept to themselves. The tension started to build up in Lance's stomach, almost forcing him to stop eating or he would make himself sick, but he managed to swallow it down, thankfully.

  
Keith had the same feeling, but he couldn't gulp it down like Lance, so he "finished" chewing his last bite and said, "Ugh, I can't eat anymore. Thanks for dinner, though."

  
Lance raised an eyebrow while his mouth was full, and said, "What? You only ate two. Surely you're not that full. If you don't like them, Keith, you can just say so, you know that right?"

  
"That's not what I meant, Lance," Keith rolled his eyes. "I'm just not that hungry. I'll save the last one for later, alright?"

  
"Right," Lance swallowed, then went in for his last bite on the third empanada. After he stuffed the last bit of that into his cheeks, he dusted his hands off and wiped his mouth with his jacket sleeve.

  
"Manners." Keith grunted, shaking his head at Lance. The blue paladin huffed and stood to get a paper towel from the roll of them. He narrowed his eyes at Keith as he tore one from the roll and wiped his mouth and hands, before tossing it in the trash. Keith, unimpressed, cocked an eyebrow at Lance.

  
"So," Lance started. "You wanna watch a movie tonight?"

  
"I guess," Keith shrugged in response. "But it depends on what we're watching."

  
"Anything you have." Lance said as he sauntered over to the TV stand, and poked around in the cabinets and drawers that were there. "What do you want to watch?"

  
Keith stood from the table and started to clean things up, wrapping his last empanada in a napkin, before setting it back on its plate and sticking it in the microwave. "I don't know. Name some things."

  
"Uhh..." Lance nosed his way further into the cabinet, his eyes scanning over the spine of the movies. "Oh my god. You have _Austin Powers_?" Lance gasped. "Oh, it's _Gold Member_!"

  
"Yeah, but I haven't watched it yet. I think Hunk bought that for me?"

  
"Jesus Christ, you're gonna love it."

  
"Well I sure hope so." Keith trudged into the living room and plopped down on the love seat, sighing as he did so. He propped his elbow on the arm of the couch, resting his jaw in the palm of his hand, slightly squishing his face. Keith couldn't help but... _Take a peek_. He let his eyes trail over Lance as he pulled the movie out and was taking the plastic wrapping off of the movie case. His ass... Damn, it looked great in those jeans, as much as he hated to admit it.

  
If he thought about it, he realized that he was starting to open up to Lance a little more, even to himself. He was starting to accept the fact that he had feelings toward Lance, and letting certain thoughts slip by without bashing himself for such. He... Actually kind of liked being a little more free from himself, as strange as that sounded. He felt like he'd kept himself in a mental prison, where anything that was thought as "dumb" or "stupid" or "inappropriate", he would punish himself for it and straighten himself out afterwards.

  
He felt free, in a way.

  
However, Lance, was having the time of his life. He didn't know why, but he was beginning to enjoy the awkward silences they had. It gave him the chance to create fictional scenarios of the two in peace, and stare at Keith all the while. At the moment, he was feeling a little tight in his pants, but he blamed that on himself, of course. It was his fault for... Thinking in such ways. Yeah, sometimes he would undress some women with his eyes, but it never got him this routy as he did with Keith. And certainly, they hardly ever made his heart flutter like Keith did. They made him feel as if he had to be better, to be something he wasn't just to get to them. But he didn't feel that way with Keith. Quite the opposite, in fact. He felt like he could be his own true self around the boy and not be embarrassed about it.

  
He was living it.

  
Lance sighed as he continued to try to get this damned plastic off. _This is frustrating. I get why they do this, but is it really that necessary?_

  
"Do you need help?" Lance heard Keith ask from behind him.

  
"No-" Lance choked up and sighed. "...Yes."

  
Keith huffed and slid into the floor and waddled on his knees over to Lance. He poked his head over Lance's shoulder and held out his hand, gesturing for Lance to hand him the case.

  
They were so close, it sent prickles down Lance's arms. He could feel Keith's breath fanning across the nape of his neck, and it gave him the urge to crane his neck away from Keith, but restrained himself from doing so. He swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to play it cool. He put on a fake frown and handed Keith the movie case.  
He watched in awe as Keith moved his hand in such an elegant way, Lance couldn't help but get a few images to flash through his head. Keith ripped open the plastic cover around the case with ease. He handed it back to Lance with a quirk. He pushed himself off the ground after Lance took it back and went back to his spot on the couch.  
Lance wrinkled his nose at Keith before he had retreated back to the couch, opening the case and removing the CD, sticking it in the Blu-ray. Once the movie was in, the blue paladin stood from his knees and stretched with a yawn. It was at that moment when he forgot about how the two had just confessed to each other not that long ago, and him performing this action right infront of Keith...

  
Lance quickly regained his posure and shook himself. "Imma go jump into my pajamas real quick."

  
"Alright."

  
As Lance started to the stairs, he froze. "Agh, I left all my shit in the car!" He quickly dashed to the front door and out in a flash, and just as quick, he came back with his basketball bag slung over his shoulder, and again, traveling back up the steps. Once he reached the door and closed it behind him, he poked his head back out and said, "Don't start without me!"

  
"Alright." Keith snorted. It was a matter of seconds before Lance came trotting down the stairs in his blue pajamas, even with his blue lion slippers. Keith couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and smirk, holding back a laugh that threatened to bubble up.

  
"What?" Lance questioned, putting his hands on his hips. "I know that look. I look great in these and you know it."

  
"No," Keith chuckled. "You look like a five year old boy who is obsessed with a blue robot lion."

  
"Hey!" Lance protested before hautily trudging over to the love seat, where he flopped down at the other end, away from Keith. "Don't make fun of my pajamas. You can't tell me you don't have your red pajamas and slippers that Allura and Hunk made for you."

  
"...I guess not." Keith frowned as a small flush dusted his cheeks.

  
Lance smirked. "That's what I thought."

  
Keith huffed. "Let's just watch the movie, you big goof."

  
" _Alright._ " Lance snorted.

As the movie played, the two boys surprisingly didn't try to make any moves on each other. Especially surprising if we're talking about Lance, here. You could conclude that Keith had drilled firmly into Lance's head, " _I do not want you to make any moves on me until I've thought this whole thing out_ ". That, or Lance just doesn't want to screw things up more than he already has in the past three days.

  
He was going with the latter.

  
But he had to refrain from staring at Keith in awe when Keith would chuckle here and there. Yeah, Lance would giggle too, but seeing Keith laugh at something was... Quite the phenomenon to experience. He wanted so badly to just curl up in the curve of Keith's side and kiss him like there was no tomorrow. But sadly, he couldn't, for he knew good and well Keith would slap the ever living shit out of him if he dared do that. Oh well, he's just going to have to wait for all that.

  
Before Lance knew it, the movie was over and the credits were rolling. He blinked himself out of his little trance and yawned. And while he yawned, he said, "Do you want to watch something else", but that sounded more like, "Hoo yo wan ho wa homhin els".

  
"I can't understand you while you're yawning, idiot," Keith shook his head.

  
After Lance's really... Really long yawn, he smacked his lips and said, "Do you want to watch something else?"

  
Keith shook his head, yawning as well. Unlike Lance, he actually waited until he was finished before speaking. "No, I'm pretty tired. It's been... A long day."

  
"Right," Lance said almost a little disappointedly. "This cowboy needs his rest."

  
Keith scoffed playfully and stretched, yawning again. "Yes, and this cityboy needs to let this cowboy get his rest."

  
"But what if," Lance suggested. "Cityboy Lance doesn't want Cowboy Keith to sleep just yet?"

  
"Then Cityboy Lance is just going to have to suck it up, because Cowboy Keith wants to sleep."

  
"But Cityboy Lance wants to watch one more movie with Cowboy Keith, then he'll leave Keith alone for the night."

  
"Can we stop talking in third person? This is becoming disturbing."

  
"Only if Keith watches one more movie with Lance."

  
"Fine, I'll watch one more movie." Keith huffed. " _One more,_ Lance."

  
"Alrighty," Lance smirked, making his jolly way back to the TV stand to scan for another movie.

 

They watched Pitch Perfect as their last movie of choice that night, then they decided they were sleepy enough to fall asleep before the movie was even over.

  
Or well, they didn't really decide, they just did. It was within the last few minutes of the movie that they passed out on the love seat. Lance had his legs up on the couch while his head rested on the arm, and Keith just fell asleep sitting up, although his head rested on the head coushin, and his arm rested on the couch's arm. His feet were tucked neatly close to him, and his other arm rested across his waist. Lance's legs were thrown over Keith's lap, comfortably propped up with his little blue lion slippers still on.  
It's quite obvious that Keith is ready for something like Lance, but he's afraid to admit it, more or less come to terms with it; the usual. It's obvious he's ready for Lance, but he's afraid of the consequences that will occur. But if he really wanted to be with Lance as much as Lance wanted to be with him, he's going to have to be willing to accept the consequences and take this risk.

  
He wants to love Lance and he yearns for him, but he's afraid to, and I would be positive that you know why. With all the "no family" business. He couldn't keep a soul around to love and care for him, even if his life depended on it; his current adopted mother is an exception. But then again, Lance is different.

  
Lance is way different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had writer's block so bad you dont even know
> 
> like i had it for so long that when i finally had an idea i felt like the art gods shed some light on me  
> i was feelin wonky and i think i got a lil sickie so i apologize if things a moving too fast??? idk i just proof read it and it seems like things are goin too fast >:'000


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What came out from Keith the most, was the leader part. What came from Lance, the cockiness, and when those two things collided, it sent sparks flying.
> 
> Lance couldn't help but let a small whine break from his throat. Embarrassed, he huffed through his nose, trying to cover it up, apparently. When Keith finally pulled away, he was panting rather heavily, but then went straight for Lance's jaw. He kissed, licked and nipped at the skin there, trailing down Lance's neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops i meant to toss this up when keith's birthday came around but you know i got lazy and didnt do it and ive been incredibly busy on top of that ahah smh
> 
> ugh happy late birthday u edgy little fuck

Keith cracked his eyes open, only to reveal a tan foot in his face. He wrinkled his nose and grumbled, shoving the foot out of his face, raising up to glare at its owner, who was sleeping peacefully as soft snores escaped his throat.

  
Throughout the night, Keith apparently had sunk down to lie down, and it seemed Lance had the same idea, or vice versa. Their limbs were tangle together, and it looked like a mess of the two boys.

  
With a groan, Keith realized that he couldn't get up without waking Lance.

  
Usually, Keith would have thrown-

  
You know what? That actually seemed like a good idea.

  
With a smirk, Keith took both of Lance's legs in his arms and flung them over into the floor, Lance's body following shortly afterward. Lance had woken and shrieked as he toppled with a loud thump on the hard surface under them.

  
Keith cackled as he stretched with a wide yawn following after.

  
Lance shot up and blinked at Keith with a jolten anger. "What the hell, Keith?! I was having a good dream, and you ruined it!"

  
"I'm sorry," Keith said sarcastically. "I was dreaming about nothing but stank in my face."

  
Lance tilted his head at Keith with a puzzled look. "...Your foot was in my face, idiot."

  
"You could have just woke me up and said something! Not throw me off the couch!"

  
"Would it have made a difference? I would be waking you up either way."

  
"Yeah, but I would have went back to sleep after you'd said something!"

  
Keith shrugged. "Oh well, too late now."

  
The blue paladin wrinkled his nose at Keith and grumbled, crawling back up onto the couch and lying down.

  
"What do you think you're doing?" Keith asked, patting Lance's leg rather harshly. "Get up, sleeping beauty. I'm awake, so this means the day has started."

  
"I'm not getting up," Lance mumbled into his arm, his eyes closed but his brow knitted together grumpily.

  
"I'll just keep shoving you off the couch, then," Keith said before, once again, shoving Lance off the couch and into the floor. "Get your lazy ass up."

  
The younger male groaned and lay lifelessly on the ground, his arms flopped across his stomach before he grumbled, "Fine..."

  
Keith grinned. "Great. Now let's go make breakfast, then, shall we?"

  
"...You're too much of a morning person."

  
"You're not enough of a morning person."

  
"Whatever." Lance rolled over onto his stomach and sighed, reaching his arms over his head and practically dragging himself into the kitchen, as Keith walked ahead of him with a small strut in his steps. Lance stood up and leaned against the back of the couch and sneered at Keith with bags under his eyes. "...There is no way you're this perky."

  
"What if I am?" Keith quirked as he whipped out a frying pan and set it on the stove.

  
Lance cocked a lazy eyebrow as he observed Keith, his blue gaze trailing over the male in front of him. Several things started running through his head, and for some reason his mind decided to stop on the one thing that was completely outragous and ridiculous.

  
The moment Keith turned around and made eye contact with Lance, the corners of his lips curled up. "What?"

  
_\--BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM, I WANT YOU IN MY ROOM._

  
Lance only continued to sneer at the red paladin.

  
_LET'S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER, FROM NOW UNTIL FOREVER._

  
Keith cocked an eyebrow at Lance, who looked like he was aggressively high, whatever that meant. He shook his head with a smile, turning his attention back to cooking their little breakfast.

Lance had went back to sleep on the couch with the TV on as Keith whipped up breakfast, and soon enough breakfast was done in a matter of minutes. "Hey, Lance, breakfast is done. You'd better get up before I eat it all myself."

  
"Jodido..." Lance grumbled under his breath, reluctantly sitting up and sauntering into the kitchen and sat down at the table, where Keith had already set his plate full of scrambled eggs, two sausage patties, a small pancake, and some toast with a square of butter on it. Lance glanced up from his plate at Keith, who was already eating away. He let a small smile crack onto his lips, before starting on his meal as well.

  
"Today just isn't your day, is it?" Keith quirked, raising an eyebrow at Lance with a slight smile.

  
"Not really." Lance mumbled through his mouthful of eggs. "That couch is starting to hurt me. I'm about ready to sleep on the floor."

  
"Maybe... If I'm in a good mood, I'll let you borrow my bed for a few nights," Keith offered.

  
"N-No, you don't have to do that," Lance stuttered. He was rather flustered by his offer. "It's fine. I'll be fine..."

  
"Hm," Keith hummed as he bit into one of his sausage patties. "Are you sure?"

  
"Yeah, I'm sure." Lance insisted. "It's not that big of a deal, I'll live."

  
"First time hearing that from you."

  
Lance wrinkled his nose and playfully kicked Keith's shin under the table.

 

"You know you don't have to cook breakfast for me every morning, right?" Lance said as he washed his plate in the sink. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and you."

  
"This morning you were not going to wake up for the life of you," Keith inquired. "And every other morning you do the same thing, unless I wake you up. How late do you usually sleep in?" he asked from behind Lance, waiting for his turn with the sink, apparently.

  
"Well, I definitely don't wake up at the crack of dawn, unlike you." Lance scoffed. "I usually wake up at around nine... Maybe ten or eleven, if I'm not feeling good."

  
"Sure." Keith snorted. "You'd sleep until the end of the Earth, if you had the chance."

  
Lance shook his head and ignored him. He finished washing his dish, then went to the next one. Funny, he didn't know why he did that. Maybe he was just so used to being in his mother's environment again, that if he didn't do the dishes he could hear his mother's thick accent in his head telling him to get to it.

  
Keith looked at Lance with a puzzled look, almost as if you could see question marks above his head. "What are you doing?"

  
_Well, I was hoping you, but I guess not._ "...Dishes."

  
"Why?"

  
_Because I'd rather be doing you but I can't do that. Agh, Lance, stop being so fuckin' thirsty!_ "Because."

  
"If you wanna do dishes so bad why don't you pop them in the dishwasher? You don't have to wash every single one by hand. Jeez, you're so much like you're mother..."

  
"What'd you say about my Mama?" Lance turned around glared playfully at the dark haired boy.

  
"I didn't say anything about your mother. I was just saying you're a lot like her."

  
"'Kay." Lance shrugged and continued his handiwork.

  
"...You... Really don't have to-"

  
"But I'm doing it anyways."

  
Keith knit his brow together and rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Whatever." He set his plate in there. It went unnoticed, thankfully, but he smiled at Lance, before turning his back to him and sauntering back into the living room.

 

"Hey, what do you say about going to an arcade?" Lance said as he plopped down onto the couch beside Keith. "Or are we just going to sit here all day, again?"

  
Keith yawned. "I'd rather sit here. I'm a hard working man, you know. A guy needs his breaks."

  
"Oh, shut up." Lance huffed. "Let's get out and do stuff. It's boring, here."

  
"Weren't you the one complaining this morning about how you didn't want to wake up? What happened to that?"

  
"Weren't you the one wanting to get up and do something?"

  
"I had a change of mind."

  
"Oh my god," Lance huffed. "Why are you like this?"

  
"Hey, it's not so boring here when you find something to do."

  
"There is nothing to do here."

  
"Watch TV."

  
"That gets boring quick."

  
"Go outside and... I don't know, bond with the animals."

  
"Your chickens don't like me. I'm not so sure about your cows, they look like they're sneering at me."

  
"Go jack off, then."

  
"Not in the mood." _Not unless it's with youuu-!_

  
"Wow. There's no way I heard that from Lance McFuckingClain."

  
"I'm not that horny, you dickhead." _I want_ you _to be the dickhead that's in- Yeah, okay, that's... That's enough._

  
Keith narrowed his eyes at Lance. "Are we sure about that?"

  
_Are you_ trying _to prove me wrong? You make me horny enough, you fucking prick. We can do this right here, right now. It might win you your point, but it'll make you keep your mouth shut about it from then on, won't it?_

  
"I don't know, do you wanna find out?" Lance teased, unintentionally sounding like a big flirt. _DID I REALLY JUST SAY THAT? GOD YOU'RE SUCH A FUCKING IDIOT I SWEAR._

  
"I don't know, do I?" Keith shot back.

  
_...At this point, I cannot tell if Keith is teasing or actually being serious. Well, of course he's teasing, he has to be._ "I don't know, that's why I was asking you."

  
"Well I don't know, why don't we solve this debate by finding out, then?"

  
_Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god keep it together don't-_

  
"Alright then, Mr. I'm Way Too Confident That I'm Gonna Be Right." _...Why are you like this? But oh my god, is he being serious? He looks like he's being serious. I can't tell, he always looks serious! I don't know, he might be doing this to be an evil little bastard and tease me because he knows that I have a thing for him._

  
"...Did we just agree to fuck?" Keith laughed.

  
"... Uh sure, yeah, I think we did." Lance scratched the back of his neck, slightly flustered.

  
"Well you see, little do you know, but this was enough to prove my point."

  
"Eh?!" Lance's face flushed to a deeper shade of red as his eyebrows were raised at Keith in surprise. _What a douchebag! He's toying with me, that's what he's doing. Alrighty, Mr. Kogane, two can play at the game!_ "You're the one who started it, though?"

  
"How so?"

  
"You suggested me to jack off, and you further teased me about it."

  
"Yes, but my point was still proven."

  
"So? I'm not some walking sex machine, if that's what you're wanting to prove. I'm not some man-ho who wants dick up his ass 24/7."

  
Keith smirked. "Are you sure?"

  
"Pretty positive... Anyway, can we ditch the conversation?"

  
"No, because you started it."

  
"How the- You know what, nevermind. I'm just going to shut up and... Forget this whole thing ever happened." _Oh, but I'm going to remember this, don't take my word._

  
"Seems like a good idea."

  
_Back to sitting around and being bored out of my skull and napping all day... Great. This is gonna be an awesome day today. So excited..._ Lance grumbled, but kept to himself, crossing his arms over his chest and crossing his legs, while a scowl remained plastered on his face. After a moment of sitting there, he sighed and whipped out his phone. He debated on what he should do, but after a few seconds of thinking, he decided he wanted to talk to Shiro.

  
_lover boy lance (7:10 AM): heyo_

  
_Call Me Daddy (7:11 AM): Well hey there._

  
_lover boy lance (7:11 AM): am i bothering you atm??_

  
_Call Me Daddy (7:11 AM): Nah. What's up? Papa's here._

  
_lover boy lance (7:12 AM): smh_

  
_lover boy lance (7:12 AM): i don't know anymore tbh_

  
_lover boy lance (7:12 AM): how the fuck am i supposed to put up with keith without making any stupid moves??_

  
_Call Me Daddy (7:13 AM): That's a tough one, there. I'm guessing you two cleared things up?_

  
_lover boy lance (7:13 AM): yeah but how did you know??_

  
_lover boy lance (7:13 AM): actually nevermind i just need he l p_

  
_Call Me Daddy (7:14 AM): Well, what I would recommend, is try to ignore him, or something like that. Be short with him, it's sure to drive him crazy and he'll be all over you in no time._

  
_lover boy lance (7:14 AM): that's_

  
_lover boy lance (7:14 AM): that's not what i'm asking_

  
_lover boy lance (7:14 AM): look we just uhh confessed to each other like just yesterday and i think he's taking advantage of that so he can tease me in such a manner_

  
_Call Me Daddy (7:15 AM): Oh my. Allura's gonna get a kick out of this. Anyway, like I said, try to ignore him._

  
_lover boy lance (7:15 AM): you know it's not that easy_

  
_lover boy lance (7:15 AM): that would be like ignoring your mother as she's yelling at you_

  
_Call Me Daddy (7:16 AM): Not exactly, but whatever you say._

  
_lover boy lance (7:16 AM): whatever i'll just go and ask the others_

  
_Call Me Daddy (7:16 AM): Alright._

  
And so Lance did just that. He texted Pidge and Hunk, asking for their advice on the situtation. And much to Lance's displeasure, they both gave the same answer as Shiro.

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (7:18 AM): ignore him_

  
_beef cake (7:20 AM): i think u should ignore him_

  
Lance huffed and shut his phone off, shaking his head. Sometimes he really hated his friends, but that was why he loved them, at the same time.

  
Honestly, they had been through Hell and back with him, and he couldn't ask for better people.

  
They had been there with him when they came back to Earth.

  
Lance was standing in front of his once childhood home, where he was raised with his brothers and sisters, lived with a perfectly happy parents, who were sweet in every way. Except when Lance got one of their famous lectures, of course.

  
He was nervous. Incredibly nervous. So nervous, in fact, he was trembling. His bag full of his belongings were flung over his shoulder, and his free hand was hovering in mid-air, mere inches from the door. He was so afraid. What if they were dead? Died of natural causes? Because they were in space, and who knows how long they were gone done here, hence time flies by in space. For all he knew, his parents, possibly brothers and sisters, were six feet under and wouldn't be answering the door. What if they were angry at him for being gone for so long? Would they turn him away?

  
"I don't know..." Lance mumbled, his hand retreating back to the safety of his body. "I'm scared."

  
"There's no need," Shiro came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "We're right here."

  
"What if they're..?" Lance asked rather breathlessly, the fear of such clutching at his stomach and wringing it like a wet rag, and stealing the air from his lungs.

  
"Don't say "what if"." Pidge said, pushing her glasses up on her nose. "Don't put images in your head, that makes you all the more paranoid, and it isn't helping you at all. You look like a beaten puppy right now."

  
"Just breathe, okay?" Hunk smiled gently. "Everything will be okay. Even if they're not alive. I mean-! That's-! That's not..! What I meant was... Sorry, I should stop talking..."

  
"Hey." Lance turned his head to look at Keith. The red paladin smiled at him. He actually _smiled_ at him. "Just knock. We're all here for you, and we're not going anywhere."

  
Lance looked at each one of them, and his chest swelled with such love for all of them, he thought he would start crying. He took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in his throat. He extended his hand back out to the door, rapping on it a few times, before stepping back a few inches. His heart was thumping against his ribcage and in his ears loudly, racing five miles a second.

  
The dam just about broke when he heard footsteps approach the door. A rather short and old woman opened the door and poked her head out, "Si?"

  
She looked up at Lance with a sparkle in her eye, and it looked like realization hit her rather hard, for she gasped really loud, and shouted, "Lance!" before flinging herself onto the boy. She started sobbing profusely into Lance's shoulder, as Lance was practically wailing in her long brown hair, which was starting to get gray streaks here and there. The last time he saw her, her hair was shorter than this, and surely didn't have any gray in it. This made Lance lurch and sob impossibly harder as he hugged the woman tightly, not daring to let go.

  
He grit his teeth, trying to quieten his wailing, but failed accordingly. After their outburst died down to hiccuping and choked sobs, they pulled away, and the smaller woman peppered Lance's face in kisses, cupping his cheeks with her soft hands. Lance got to his knees to give the short woman more access, since he was much taller than her, now. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her so tight. He balled his hands into fistfuls of her shirt, the hitches in his throat and the hiccuping along with small whines and whimpers starting to grow stronger, making his chest hurt.

  
The others stood behind them and watched silently. Hunk was crying, of course. He pulled out a few tissues from his pocket and blew his nose, which was rather obnoxious, but nobody really cared at that moment. Shiro, Keith, and Pidge all managed to keep it together, although, they had to admit, they came close to crying as well. They watched with a soft smile on their faces, taking the scene in to heart.

  
After seasoning Lance's face with kisses, the short lady looked at Lance with hard bloodshot eyes, tears still streaming down her face. She started to somewhat yell at him in fluent Spanish. The others couldn't tell what she was saying, but they were all sure she was asking where he's been and never to do something like that again.

  
Lance followed her, apologizing. His voice was shaky and hoarse, and you could tell from all that, Lance was going to feel drained after this was over. Lance asked something, and his mother froze dead in the middle of her sentence. Her face fell as she looked at him, tears starting to well up in her eyes again. Lance's face seemed to grow very depressed, rather than an ugly happy. His mother mumbled something and hugged him again, buring her face in Lance's hair.

  
Lance stared at the ground with heavy eyes, his arms now hanging limply at his sides.

  
Nobody said a word for quite a while. Something had definitely gone wrong, and there was a shift in the mood. It went from crying your heart out happy, to uncomfortable and worried.

  
Pidge nudged Shiro and whispered. "Do you think... He's asking about his dad?.."

  
"...I wouldn't doubt it..." Shiro whispered back with a sadened tone.

  
After a moment, Lance stood from his knees, and wiped his runny nose and wet cheeks and burning eyes with his jacket sleeve. He twisted his head to look at the others and smile sweetly, before stepping to his mother's side and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Mama, these are-"

  
That woman didn't even wait for Lance to finish his sentence before she said, "Hola, Akira, the name." Her English was a little rusty, but she couldn't help it. She went up to each one of them and gave them a big hug. "Thank you, taking care of Lance. Am very grateful."

  
"No problem, Mrs. McClain," Shiro smiled. "We were sure to keep him straight. He didn't cause us _too_ much trouble."

  
Keith made that noise as if he wasn't so sure, and made that little gesture with his fingers that indicated, "just a little".

  
"Names?" Akira asked, rubbing her eyes.

  
"Takashi Shirogane, but you may call me Shiro, Ma'am."

  
"Keith."

  
"Hunk."

  
"Pidge."

  
"Nice to meet you," Akira smiled at them, so sweet and kindly, it looked like all their chests were gonna burst.

  
Lance smiled at the memory, that really only happened a few months ago. He'd stayed with his mother in those months, spending as much time with her as possible. He spent nights with her acting like he was still seven and weighed fourteen pounds. He was a big ole' baby, laying across his mother's lap and curling up into her side like he always used to do when he was little.

  
After those months passed, he started to realize how much he missed his friends, especially Keith. Keith was going to be the first person he visited.

  
And here he is now, caught up in this mess with Keith. Not at all what he wanted or planned. But, he guessed it could be worse.

  
He glanced at Keith, and stared for a moment, having a small flashback when the dark haired boy had craddled Lance in his arms, but shook it away quickly, and averted his gaze back to the TV.

  
_Why don't I appreciate them more?.._ Lance wondered as sleep started to settle in again, wanting to make up for the sleep he missed when Keith woke him up with a start this morning. _I'll get back at him for that..._

 

Lance cracked open an eye to see Keith hovering over him. He felt his face flush a bright pink as he stared up at the red paladin. "Uh, can I help you?"

  
Keith nodded, poking his bottom lip out slightly. "You can help me get rid of _this_." He gestured to his pants, and Lance, with sudden realization, got the idea.

  
"...Why me?" Lance gulped nervously. "Why can't you just... You know... Take care of that yourself? I didn't think you wanted to do anything until-"

  
"Forget I said all that," Keith grunted, lying flush against Lance's stomach. "I want to clear things up by doing this."

  
Lance wasn't complaining, but he was starting to panic. You could tell right off the bat the poor boy was a virgin, but it's not like he could help it. He leaned away from Keith slightly when he leaned in for a kiss, but the red paladin seemingly refused to let that happen. He put a hand on Lance's cheek and turned his head back to facing him before placing his lips on Lance's.

  
Lance tensed for a moment, before relaxing into the kiss, and soon kissing back. The kiss was quite shy when he joined in, but it soon began to gain confidence in no time.  
It was like their two personalities collided and battled each other. Keith was the guy that liked to be the leader, it seemed, but not wanting all responsibilities set directly on him. He wanted to be seen as strong and fearless, loyal and lovable. Wait, lovable? That's hardly the word to describe him as, but whatever.

  
Lance, on the other hand, was somewhat the same way. He was a cocky guy, and he wanted to seem like he had no imperfections to him at all, even though he knows good and well no one is perfect.

  
What came out from Keith the most, was the leader part. What came from Lance, the cockiness, and when those two things collided, it sent sparks flying.

  
Lance couldn't help but let a small whine break from his throat. Embarrassed, he huffed through his nose, trying to cover it up, apparently. When Keith finally pulled away, he was panting rather heavily, but then went straight for Lance's jaw. He kissed, licked and nipped at the skin there, trailing down Lance's neck.

  
His neck was very sensitive, that just poking it with your finger would cause him to recoil with a hiss, and Keith knew that, so he took advangtage of it. That made Lance a little upset, but he wouldn't let it bother him too much. Not right now, anyway.

  
When Keith grinded down on Lance, the latter groaned under the red paladin, scrambling for purchase on his arms. Keith rubbed his entire body up and down all over Lance; chest sliding up Lance's, stomach and everything. He already had Lance hard as a rock.

  
This was too good to be true.

  
"Ugh, Lance," Keith huffed. "Get up."

  
"No," Lance groaned. "I don't want to."

  
Keith let his head hang over Lance's face, his lustful eyes locking with Lance's. His dark hair fell in his face and dangled low enough to tickle Lance's cheeks. "Wake up, Lance."

  
Lance looked at the male quizzically, but didn't look like that for long when he groaned again. "Wake up."

  
Lance shut his eyes and groaned again and again, ignoring Keith.

  
"Lance."

  
" _Lance._ "

  
"LANCE."

  
Lance opened his eyes, but Keith wasn't in his face and doing all those things to him. Instead, he was sitting off to the side of him and slapping his face. When Lance looked at him rather puzzled. His eyes burned a little, but he ignored it.

  
Keith stopped slapping him, and looked rather annoyed. "You've slept like, half the day away! I didn't think you'd sleep that fucking long!"

  
Lance was really confused, and he was trying to sort things out in his head, rather than replying to Keith. Once he gathered himself up, and realized that entire scene was just a dream, sadly, he finally looked at Keith with heavy eyes and asked slowly, "What time is it?"

  
"Like, 2:30 in the afternoon!" Keith exclaimed. "I went out for a ride and fed the animals when you fell asleep, and when I came back you're still sleeping!"

  
"So?" Lance tilted his head at Keith, trying desperately to ignore the tight feeling in his pants. His body was facing the back of the couch, so Keith couldn't see, thankfully. His legs were pressed tightly together, so hopefully Keith wouldn't notice, even if he wasn't facing Keith. "What's it matter to you?"

  
Keith paused and blinked at Lance, before answering rather shyly, "I get lonely. You know... With no one to talk to."

  
"Well jeez, you could have just told me, you know," Lance rubbed his eyes, yawning. "I wouldn't have fallen asleep, then."

  
"I still can't believe you napped that long." Keith scoffed, shaking his head.

  
Lance smiled. "I was even having a good dream, and you ruined it."

  
"Well, excuse me," Keith said sarcastically. "Your lazy ass needed to wake up."

  
Lance hummed in response, noting that he was still trying to wake up from his dream. He didn't want to sit up, for that would expose him, you know. _What a dream! It really_ was _too good to be true..._

  
_God, Lance. You want some water? Because you seem really fucking_ thirsty.

  
"Get up, I'm not gonna let you keep sleeping." Keith commanded, slapping Lance's knee before standing up and walking away into the kitchen.

  
_It's gonna be a long day..._ Lance thought with a sigh, staring down at his pants with a frown. He refused to get up until this died down, or just until it wasn't noticeable. He sure didn't want his potential boyfriend to see him like this, especially when they aren't intimate with each other at the moment.

  
Lance's head snapped over to his phone when it vibrated on the coffee table in front of him. He peeked over the couch to make sure Keith wasn't anywhere where Lance would be exposed of his little friend. Reaching over, he quickly snatched it from the hard surface and looked down at it. Pidge had texted him, saying that her and Hunk were dropping in for a visit.

  
_A really, really long day._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a little short idk im sorry ;o;
> 
> pls inform me of any typos or grammatical errors thx


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I feel like I should run when it happens. Like I have to stop something; stop something from happening. I try to ignore it, but I don't know what to do about it. It scares me. It gets worse every time it happens... And it doesn't help when you're giving me that look, damnit!"
> 
> Keith didn't break that look, either, he just continued to stare at Lance like that. Then, surprisingly, he asked, "You think it might be the lions?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahahahaha im gonna cry im suffering :')))
> 
> also whOA TYSM FOR OVER 1,000 HITS OMG

Keith groaned when Lance told him that Pidge and Hunk were dropping for a visit. "Are you kidding me? You're not fucking with me, are you?"

  
"No, I'm not." Lance huffed. _Although I wish I was, wink wink._ "I can show you her text. I told her she'd have to ask you first, but you know how she is."

  
"No, no," Keith sighed. "It's fine... When will they be here?"

  
"She said in about a day or two... Or less."

  
"Alright, so I still have some time." Keith said, relieved.

  
"For what?" Lance tilted his head at the red paladin. He felt a weird tingle in the back of his head, but he ignored it, for that happened often ever since they had gotten off the ship. It always made him feel like something bad was about to happen, and it disturbed him quite so. He didn't know what it was. Maybe being up in space for so long kinda gave him mindpowers? Maybe it was his lion trying to tell him something? Which one, though? Red or Blue? Could it be important? If it was, why is he choosing to ignore it? But how was he supposed to know what it was, if he didn't even know where it was coming from, or what was causing it? It could just be something minor. Just something that happens.

  
"...Are you okay?" Keith asked, cocking an eyebrow at Lance. "You look like I'm speaking a totally different language to you."

  
Lance shook his head out of his train of thought. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine, sorry... I'm not the only one that gets a weird feeling every now and then, right?"

  
"What on Earth are you talking about?" Keith questioned, very confused.

  
"Like," Lance started to explain. "It's a weird tingle at the back of my head. It started happening within the first few days of being back home. It's strange. Every time it happens I feel like something bad is going to happen or is happening."

  
Keith gave him the strangest look, like he had gone crazy. "Did you hit your head or something?"

  
Lance narrowed his eyes. "I'm being serious, Keith. You may think I'm losing it, but I swear I'm not joking with you."

  
"Alright then," Keith said slowly. "Then do explain, because I have no idea what you're talking about."

  
"...I don't know what it is," Lance said, feeling rather embarrassed, because if he really listened to himself, he did sound crazy. "But it feels familiar. Like, it feels like I know where it's coming from, but I'm not sure. The feeling... It's... I don't know... Full of panic? Worry? Warning? Scared? It feels like I'm in danger. I don't know how else to explain it... Please don't think I'm going crazy, because I swear it to you, I know what I'm talking about."

  
"What makes you think I think you're going crazy?" Keith asked, tilting his head at Lance slightly.

  
"You have that look on your face," Lance huffed. "Just take me seriously, that's all I ask."

  
Keith crossed his arms across his chest, giving Lance a weird eye. "Alright..."

  
"I feel like I should run when it happens. Like I have to stop something; stop something from happening. I try to ignore it, but I don't know what to do about it. It scares me. It gets worse every time it happens... And it doesn't help when you're giving me that look, damnit!"

  
Keith didn't break that look, either, he just continued to stare at Lance like that. Then, surprisingly, he asked, "You think it might be the lions?"

  
Lance was surprised he actually asked a serious question with such a look on his face. "...I don't know. It might be. Might explain why I feel like I know where it's coming from, too. Do you think we should look into it? Or... I should?"

  
"I don't know, Lance," Keith said. "It's not my place to tell you your decisions. You do what you feel is right."

  
Lance frowned and looked down at the ground. "...Okay."

  
Keith felt a tinge of guilt tug at him, seeing Lance like that. He had an instinct to comfort the boy, and he followed that instinct. He set a hand on Lance's shoulder, and smiled at him. "You'll be okay, alright? Don't worry about it too much. When it happens again, tell me."

  
Lance glanced down at Keith's hand, then smiled rather shyly at him. "Okay."

  
"Okay." Keith pat Lance's shoulder, retreating his hand back to his body. He knew it was unsafe to do stuff like that to Lance, keeping in mind that Lance still had feelings for him, as Keith had feelings for Lance, but just hasn't quite figured himself out yet. He looks really cute when he smiles at me like that... "Why don't you help me clean up the house to keep your mind off of it?"

  
"Ugh," Lance playfully shoved Keith. "Anything but that!"

  
"We're gonna have guests tomorrow!" Keith protested. "Or the day after that... But still! I want the place to look decent!"

  
"It _does_ look decent," Lance raised an eyebrow, looking around the place.

  
"Your kind of 'decent' is not what I'm talking about," Keith rolled his eyes. "You're the least decent person I know."

  
"Hey!" Lance exclaimed. "I cleaned your dishes when you wouldn't! I'd say I'm pretty decent!"

  
"Keeping dreamin', Lance," Keith teased. He leaped away with a laugh when Lance lunged for him, before darting across the living room with Lance close on his tail. He jumped over the couch, but Lance followed suit. Keith had figured out a weakness on him: Lance was wearing socks, and the kitchen floor was a hard flooring. He smirked as his bare feet touched the kitchen floor, glancing back at Lance. It seemed the blue paladin wasn't having any trouble... Just yet.

  
Keith took a sharp turn around the table and back into the living room as quick as a whip, standing in front of the couch, crouched. When Lance tried to turn that corner, he slid off to his right, nearly running into the refridgerator.

  
He growled, "Ugh, Keith! That was a dick move!" before starting the chase again. Keith shot up from his spot like a spooked cat, darting away from Lance once more.

  
But he wasn't fast enough.

  
Lance somehow stuck a foot in Keith's path, causing him to topple just below the stairs, and Lance, being the adorably dumb guy he is, tripped over Keith, and landed on the boy with an "oof". They lay there together for a moment, laughing like a couple of hyenas.

  
Once they calmed down, they stared at each other with fond looks, locking their gazes. When Lance started to slowly lean in, Keith panicked and put his hands on the boy's shoulders and pushed him away, saying, "We should get to work instead of trying to kill each other, you know?" He stood and dusted himself off, heading into the kitchen again.  
Lance sat on the floor with a frown, staring after Keith. "...Yeah..." He soon stood as well, following behind Keith.

 

Within a short hour, they had finished picking up the living room and had moved into the kitchen, sweeping the floor and washing all the dishes before putting them away. Keith had a nice pile of dirt and whatnot, adding to it as the minutes ticked by, while Lance scrubbed at the pots and pans and the rest of the plates and silverware that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher. They hardly exchanged a conversation the entire time, it was merely an awkward silence, the only sound being the running water and the soft sweeps on the hard kitchen floor.

  
Lance had his nose buried in his business, really trying his hardest to ignore the other male. What had just happened not too long ago... What he tried to do, The Incident, as he liked to call it, stuck to his mind like gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. It kept playing itself over and over.

  
Lance was hovering over Keith, their bodies pressed flush against each other. The feel of their rapidly rising and falling chests pushing against each other, their legs tangled together, and Lance's hands lay on Keith's shoulders as they laughed. Lance took a breather and stopped laughing when he looked down at Keith, who was still laughing shortly after Lance had stopped. When Keith stopped as well, he looked up at Lance and locked their gazes, a small smile kept his lips curled upward. Lance's heart fluttered at the way Keith's hair lay spread out on the floor under him, revealing more of his face. His purple eyes sparkled in the light, making his smile almost glow. He couldn't help it, he wanted to press his lips against Keith's and never break apart from him, and he acted on it without thought. He slowly leaned in and his eyes fluttered closed, his chest lurching with such emotion it started to hurt a little. The skin of their lips made contact...

  
_Wait, no no. That's not how it happened._

  
Lance slowly leaned in and his eyes fluttered closed, his chest lurching with such emotion it started to hurt a little. Keith put his hands on Lance's shoulders and pushed him away. Lance opened his eyes when he was shoved back, twisting to land on the heel of his hands, looking at Keith with a heartbroken look as the red paladin stood from his spot on the floor. He should have expected it, of course.

  
_I need to wake up. This isn't some fanfiction where the main character has an unlimited amount of luck and lives happily ever after with their significant other._  
Lance sighed, turning off the water and drying the pan he'd been washing with a hand towel. _I'm fine. I made a mistake, everything will be alright... I hope I didn't just fuck up my chances._

  
"Hey, Lance?" the sound of Keith's voice saying his name cutting through the silence sent goosebumps down his arms.

  
"Yeah?" Lance asked, not daring to turn around and look at Keith, although he knew he would have to, but he wanted to avoid it as much as he could.

  
"Could you get the dustpan and help me real quick?"

  
Lance knew good and well that Keith could do that himself; he'd watched him do it. Is he doing this on purpose? "...Sure." Reluctantly, he turned around and took the dustpan from Keith, setting it on the ground in front of the rather large pile. His foot was backed against the dustpan, supporting it so Keith could sweep the pile into it.

  
Keith needed a better angle to sweep, so he stepped to the side of Lance, and pushed the pile into the pan. His arm unintentionally brushed Lance's shoulder, and he silently cursed himself. He knew Lance was unstable after their little... _Incident_ , and he could admit he himself was still a little jittery about it. It was a tense atmosphere right now, and Keith so badly just wanted to drop everything and walk outside. But he didn't, of course. He only continued what he was doing and tried to ignore the tension in the air between them.

  
Once he finished that, he quickly stepped away from Lance and picked up the pan from the ground, mumbling "Thanks" before taking the pan to the trash and dumping it.  
Lance stared at him for a moment and blinked a few times, before shaking himself out of his trance and stuttering, "Oh... You're-You're welcome...", and after that, he added "I guess" under his breath. He thought Keith caught that for a moment, for the red paladin turned around and looked at him, but he realized Keith had just put up the broom and was turning to the counter and grabbing a hand towel, before wetting it in the sink. He turned to the table, close to where Lance was still standing, and slapped that hand towel down on the surface of it, scrubbing it until it shined.

  
During that time, Lance had gone back to washing the last pan, trying to set his mind on something else other than the other male in the room with him, which seemed impossible.

  
All this tension and unacknowledgement and whatnot was making him mentally exhausted. The tension had him worried out of his mind all day, and not to mention tense. The unacknowledgement of the way they felt about each other made the atmosphere awkward beyond explanation. They both know how they feel about each other, but they never discuss it or accept it. Lane felt like Keith was trying to distance himself from him, and that scared him more than anything. Sure, other's could probably think of something scarier, like coming to a near death situation. But honestly, Lance would rather die than lose Keith, as a lover, or as a friend, or just a person in general; it didn't matter. As long Keith exists in Lance's life, the blue paladin feels as if he could be at peace.

  
He wants to be there for Keith, but he doesn't know how. He doesn't know how to approach him with such a subject. He knew Keith needs his time to think about this before jumping to decisions, but he needed an answer before he loses it.

  
He just wanted to lay down and pass out and never wake up. Right now, he felt like this was a nightmare he'd never get away from, or wake up from. He felt like he was slowly slipping into a depression, which was starting to nag at his nerves and his emotions. He felt tired and stuck, like he didn't know what to do, and sleep was the only escape, even if it wouldn't solve anything at all. It just seemed like the best way to dodge the situation, although Lance know good and well it was absolutely impossible to dodge this. It would be the many bullets he couldn't dodge.

  
He had a terrible feeling in his gut, which made his heart sink with a heavy sadness. It wasn't extreme, but it certainly left Lance feeling ready to collapse into slumber.  
Once the pan was clean, he couldn't use the hand towel he'd been using to dry off the dishes, for Keith was using it to wash the table. So with a sigh, he set it on the counter to dry on its own, before sauntering to the couch with heavy feet.

  
"You're already finished?" Keith asked when Lance flopped onto the couch.

  
"I guess." Lance mumbled into the cushions, curling into himself with a sigh.

  
"You can't be _that_ tired," Keith tried to joke. "You've only been helping me clean for about an hour. And plus you've already taken a nap today. A nap that has already wasted like, half the day away."

  
"Yeah." Lance muttered, feeling a little out of it.

  
Keith slowed to a stop and stared over at the back of the couch. He couldn't see Lance, but he could tell he was curled up in a rather sad ball. "...Are you okay?"

  
"'M fine."

  
"You don't sound fine," Keith set the towel down and trudged over to the couch, where he looked down at Lance with a raised eyebrow. "What's gotten into you?"

  
Lance looked at Keith through the side of his eye, not giving a response to him. He only huffed and closed his eyes, ignoring Keith's question.

  
"Look," Keith started with a sigh. "I know you're mad at me... Upset... Something like that, and I know what it's for. I'm sorry I shoved you away, but I had already told you, I want time to think this out before doing anything big."

  
"I know." Lance said rather quietly, keeping his eyes shut. "You shouldn't be sorry. It's my fault. I don't want to dwell on it. Just forget it."

  
Keith gave Lance a puzzled look, before sighing and saying, "Alright. If you wanna talk, I'm around."

  
"Okay." Lance said, further curling up, before letting the sweet embrace of sleep wrap around him.

  
Keith, however, hadn't walked away yet. He stood there, his elbows propped on the back of the couch and watched Lance fall asleep with a frown on his face; worried about him. He didn't like seeing Lance like this. It was strange, too, for out of the few years he's known Lance, he didn't experience him in a state like this very often, so it scared him.

  
He honestly didn't know why he'd pushed Lance away like that earlier. His heart shattered when he thought about the way Lance looked at him with such strucken eyes, like a kicked puppy. He hoped he never had to see Lance look at him like that again. Next time something like this happened, he was going to let it happen. He would not put Lance's happiness in danger just for his own feelings. No. Lance came first before his own well-being from now on.

  
Keith didn't know why he cared so much... Why should he care? It only seems to cause more trouble than necessary.

  
He just loves Lance in a way he can't explain, he guessed, and left it as that.

  
He sighed and turned on his heel, returning to his cleaning.

 

Time passed, and during that time, Keith had mopped the kitchen floor and left it to dry as he cleaned the downstairs bathroom. No one really used that bathroom often, except for Lance, so it didn't really need much done to it. He only cleaned the toilet and the shower. But even that didn't require much, so it only took a few minutes.

  
_Man, cleaning is exhausting._ Keith stretched, pulling his hands way above his head and standing on his tiptoes with a big long yawn. He rubbed the back of his neck with heavy eyes. When his phone vibrated in his pants' pocket, Keith stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled it out with a huff. The screen lit up with Pidge's texts like a lightbulb.

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (4:40 PM): hey_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (4:40 PM): buddy_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (4:40 PM): were comin early_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (4:41 PM): is that okay???_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (4:41 PM): well i sure hope so bc well be there in like a couple of hours :))_

  
_the pigeon goes ooru (4:41 PM): we got a surprise for you two :))_

  
Keith frowned. _A surprise from Pidge... Hm, that doesn't sound good._

  
_Your casual 90's kid (4:43 PM): Kay_

  
Pidge texted back, but Keith had already stuffed his phone back in his pocket, really not wanting to talk to anyone right now. He sauntered back into the living room and was startled to find that Lance wasn't on the couch, where he'd fallen asleep. He glanced around the room. Once he scanned it a couple of times, he poked around in search for Lance. There wasn't many places to really hide or conceal someone in the living room, so he only looked behind the couch and in the little "room" where the back door was. When he was unsuccessful, he tilted his head and said, "Lance?"

  
When there was no answer, Keith decided to call out a little louder as he made his way to the stairs. "Lance?" He called Lance's name again once he started up the stairs. "Lance? If you're playing a joke, this isn't funny." He opened his bedroom door. "La-" Keith cut himself off when he glanced over to his bed and found Lance curled up under the blanket, hugging the extra pillow while the other remained under his head. Soft snores escaped his nose, his mouth being covered a bit by the pillow he was embracing. The blanket wasn't fully around him, it was only wrapped around his waist and down.

  
Keith stared at Lance for a second, before letting a soft smile creep onto his lips as he stood in the doorway. The light in the room was still on. It seemed Lance had flipped it on so he could see, but probably just decided to sleep with it on, hence it meant he would have to get right back up to turn it off.

  
Keith's hand slipped off the doorknob as he quietly tiptoed to Lance's side of the bed, where he pulled the blanket up over Lance, tucking him in gently, cautious not to stir or wake him. He slowly leaned down to Lance's face and stared at him. Lance looked... So peaceful; so soft. A faint smile even graced his lips. Keith's stomach clenched.

  
_Just let it happen..._

  
He blinked a few times before he leaned in a little closer to the blue paladin's face. Just before his lips touch Lance's cheek, Keith froze and didn't go any further. He stared at the tan skin under him, honestly terrified for some reason. His heart thumped against his ribcage, and he held his breath.

  
_Just let it happen._

  
Keith gently lay a hand on Lance's shoulder, rubbing small circles with his thumb.

  
_Just let it happen, Keith. He's not awake._

  
Keith sighed softly and pulled away, slowly removing his hand from Lance's shoulder. He tiptoed back to the door and flicked the light off. He stepped out the door, and just before he closed it, he turned and stared at Lance one last time. "Not yet." He then turned and cautiously shut the door.

  
He ventured down the stairs and headed straight for the couch, plopping down in it while blowing a raspberry. He couldn't believe he almost did that.

  
He was ready to get all this drama over with. It was quite exhausting. It depleted energy from him so fast, like a battery, and he felt it was only building up to something worse.  
He was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

 

 

Keith had calmed down and started watching television, lying on the couch, as he would if he were alone; which was like, all the time, now, and he was just starting to get used to it, too, even if he was a bit lonely.

  
A few raps on the door sounded, just as expected. Then, of course, the person Keith knew would be here shouted through the door, "Hey! The party's here!"

  
_Ugh, you're anything_ but. Keith grumbled and reluctantly stood from the couch and sauntered over to the door, unlocking it and opening it, only to be greeted with Pidge practically jumping on him as she embraced him. "Jeez! I missed my buddio!"

  
Keith wrinkled his nose and hesitantly pat her back. "Yeah... Missed you too..."

  
"Hey Keith," Hunk greeted. Really, Hunk was the only one that he was happy to see right now, aside from Lance.

  
"Howdy!"

  
Keith blinked and looked behind Hunk. He knew that high-pitched uncle voice anywhere. "Uh, Coran?"

  
"You bet your buns!" the ginger exclaimed.

  
"... _Buns?_ " Keith questioned. He unlatched Pidge from him and looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "I thought it was just going to be you and Hunk?"

  
"Eh..." Pidge glanced back at the Altean. "We had to make a last minute change... We couldn't leave him home alone. The last time that happened it... Wasn't too pretty." She stood on her toes and whispered, "You don't mind, do you? Sorry to tow him along. You understand, right?"

  
Keith glanced back at Coran, who was admiring a firefly floating past his face with a twinkle in his eye. Keith sighed. "...I guess. But I don't know if I have enough around here to feed all of you, on top of me and Lance, but you can stay here for a night. And try to keep it down, and try to keep from going in my room. Lance is sleeping up there."

  
"Oooh," Pidge cooed. "Did you tw-"

  
"No!" Keith cut her off. "Whatever you're about to say, stop right there. I don't wanna hear anymore. We didn't do anything. He just fell asleep. Now shut the fu-" Keith stopped and glanced at Coran, before correcting himself. "-Just shut up and get in here before I change my mind."

  
All three of them obeyed his command, sauntering inside as Keith stepped aside as they went in. When Coran followed after Hunk, he shut the door gently behind him with a sigh. He turned around to see Pidge rushing up the stairs, and nearly kicked the door down in all but a flash. He grumbled.

  
"Laaaaance!!" Lance grunted when a weight descended upon him while he was sleeping, groaning when he tried to shove it off. "Lance! Wake up!"

  
Lance grumpily looked up to find Pidge sitting on him. She had the widest smile on her face with a gleam on her glasses, before she chuckled, "Keith told me not to come up here, but I couldn't resist. I wanted to see my best bud."

  
"Mgh, did you have to barge in and jump on me?" Lance mumbled. "That seemed a little unnecessary."

  
"Sorry," Pidge cooed. "I got excited. I haven't seen you in so long! I missed ya!" She wrapped Lance in a hug, which Lance returned. Once they parted, Pidge exclaimed, "Why don't you get up and come say hi to Hunk?.. And Coran?"

  
"Coran?" Lance questioned. "I thought it was just going to be you and Hunk?"

  
"That's exactly what Keith said..." Pidge sighed. "Long story short, we couldn't leave him home alone. He's like a child, I swear."

  
"Hm," Lance hummed, before sighing and saying, "Alright. I'll be down in a sec."

  
"No, you're gonna get up right now!" Pidge said, standing up off him and pulling him up by his arm. "C'mon, you lazy ass!"

  
"Alright, alright!" Lance laughed. "I'm coming, good grief." He followed Pidge down the stairs to see Coran, Hunk, and Keith sitting in the living room. Keith was sitting on the coffee table, while Coran and Hunk sat on the love seat. Lance felt a heavy feeling dawn on him. He really didn't want to see Keith right now. He shook himself out of that thought. I just want to have a good night.

  
"Lance!" Hunk exclaimed when the said person dragged his feet over to the couch. The bigger male wrapped Lance in a bear hug.

  
Hunk hugged him so tight, it felt like Lance's spine just cracked. "Uugh, Hunk, you're... You're hurtin' me."

  
Hunk released him from the embrace with a smile. "I missed ya bunches!"

  
Lance smiled back. "I missed you too!"

  
Coran even decided to hug Lance, and Lance was rather flattered, for he had never done this before. He had to admit, he missed is space uncle.

  
All five of them chat for a good while. Lance talked to everyone but Keith. He wanted to avoid that all together, for the night, at least; he didn't know about tomorrow.

  
They were all catching up with each other, and whenever Lance would tell them a story about something that happened, he never spoke a word about anything that happened between him and Keith.

  
He told them about when he was still at home, how his chihuahua had sauntered over to his Halloween costume, sat down on it, and decided to just puke all over it. He also mentioned how he'd accidentally sneezed cheesecake all over his mother's kitchen wall.

  
They all shared a good laugh out of each other's stories, but Lance, again, was starting to grow weary from the tension between him and Keith. He'd tensed every time Keith even looked his way, and it drained him. He excused himself from the conversation into the kitchen, where he poured himself a small glass of water. He stood in the kitchen and stared out the backdoor, propping himself on the counter.

  
Pidge joined him after a few minutes of him standing there, staring at nothing in particular while sipping on his water. "Hey," Pidge said quietly, sure to take care that the others don't hear. "Are you okay?"

  
Lance shrugged, matching her tone. "Could be better."

  
Pidge glanced back at the others, whom were wrapped in a conversation, completely ignoring the two. Her eyes landed on Keith, who she suspected was the cause of the way Lance was acting. "What's up?"

  
"Just..." Lance flicked his gaze down to his glass of water as he made it slosh around in a circular motion, sweat starting to gather around the cup. "...A lot."

  
"Hm," Pidge pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "You don't even have to tell me. I could guess on my first try."

  
"Really now?" Lance challenged.

  
"It's Keith, isn't it?"

  
"No surprise."

  
"What's going on?"

  
Lance made a quick description of what had been happening the few days after they'd confessed, and he made sure that she heard what happened just today. She seemed rather surprised, and looked like she had the urge to make a joke; which she did, but she refrained from it, for this was a serious conversation.

  
"Sounds like you're in trouble."

  
"Tell me about it." Lance scoffed, sipping from his water again.

  
"Well, I think what you're doing is a little unnecessary: ignoring him like that. But if you feel it's going to resolve things, then you'd be sorely mistaken, my friend. Yes, it's okay to want space from him for a bit, but I don't think it's right to just flat out ignore him. He's trying, Lance, whether you believe it or not. You can deny it all you want, but he really is trying. He's just confused, and he wants to make sure he knows what he's getting into first before actually jumping into it. He wants to find out all the consequences, ups, downs, etc.

  
"But that doesn't mean he's going to try to distance himself from you. Even if he doesn't want to be in a relationship with you, he's not going to push you away and cut you off. You're his friend that he's known for years. He wouldn't give up on you that easily, and I'm sure you know that."

  
When Lance kept silent, Pidge continued, "I know it seems hard, Lance. Everything will work itself out in its own time, you just have to be patient. Halloween just passed, and I'm confident that by Thanksgiving, if you're lucky, or Christmas, he'll have made his decision. Hopefully he won't take too long."

  
Lance kept silent for a moment before saying, "I know all that. It's just the way he treats me. The way he treats me after I told him how I felt. He acts like he can't joke with me because he's afraid I'll take it as him flirting, or something like that. He's become so awkward around me, and it makes the tension between us heavier. I feel like I'm suffocating under the weight of it. It so... Exhausting. I've already slept the day away, pretty much, because I feel so emotionally drained. The air is so thick, now, I don't even want to think about walking or talking or just... Anything, because the way it is now, simple things like that are so tiring. Breathing is even hard around here.

  
"I want to go outside and get some air, you know. Have some time to myself, but when I do, something about Keith... I don't know, it's like I'm a fish caught on his hook and he keeps reeling me in, and I can't escape... I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm going crazy."

  
Pidge sighed. "I see what you mean. Actually, I don't think... I don't think Keith's doing it on purpose. He's never really... Had anyone to love like he does you. He sees Shiro as a brother, but even then, he doesn't know how to act around him, because he's always been the lone wolf, and he's so used to that, he subconsciously excludes himself from the pack." She leaned against the counter as well, standing beside Lance as she gazed into the living room at Keith, who looked pretty bored of Hunk and Coran's conversations, but it looked like he was trying to be nice and pretend to be listening, even though his cheek was resting in the palm of his hand and he was taking a rather strong interest in the wall. "He's not like us, either, Lance, you have to keep in mind. He's alien, you could say. He knows this, and he tries to fit in.

  
"The reason he acts the way he does is because he's afraid to get attached, because the last time that ever happened he was dumped and abandoned on a wet rainy street and sent to an orphanage, where he never made a single friend, or was adopted. He's insecure." Pidge looked up at Lance. "You have to try as hard as he does, if you really want him. He wants you, I can see. I've caught him staring at you at least three times since I've been here, already. Once when we were coming down the stairs, he never took his eyes off of you until someone else started speaking. I saw him stare at you as you excused yourself to come over here, and just now, I just caught him staring at you. It wasn't long, though, because I caught his eye by accident."

  
Lance looked down at Pidge with a raised eyebrow. "And I can tell he cares about you, Lance, because when I knocked on that door, the first thing he said to us when we stepped in was not to bother you, because you were sleeping in his bed... And I cannot begin to explain how sweet I thought that was, you know."

  
"...Then why'd you jump on me?" Lance questioned slowly.

  
"Because, I was not going to wait until you woke up to see you, whom I have not seen in months!" Pidge said, punching his shoulder playfully. "You know how I am. This pigeon doesn't like to wait."

  
"The impatient pigeon," Lance rolled his eyes.

  
"You bet'cha," Pidge smiled. "Alright... Let's go back over there, alright?"

  
Lance hummed. "I think I'm gonna go back to bed."

  
"Really now? Where are you going to sleep?"

  
"In Keith's bed."

  
"Where's Keith gonna sleep, then?"

  
"I guess he'll just have to hop in with me, then." Lance quirked. "But the real question is, where are all of you gonna sleep?"

  
"Well, I get the couch. Hunk and Coran can sleep on the floor."

  
Lance shook his head, setting his glass down before yawning. "Goodnight, Pidge."

  
"Night." Pidge responded as Lance sleepily wobbled to the stairs and up them, stepping into the bedroom and shutting the door behind him.

  
Then, Keith poked his head up and looked at Pidge. He raised an eyebrow before mouthing, "Where is he going?"

  
"To bed." Pidge mouthed back. "He's sleepy."

  
Keith frowned and looked back at his bedroom door, before sighing and turning back to Hunk and Coran. Pidge joined them shortly after, although it wasn't long before she claimed that she was tired and wanted to get to bed. Hunk had gotten to the couch first, which made her rather angry, but she supposed she'd just have to suck it up. But it didn't seem possible to suck it up when Coran was curled up in a blanket right beside her and was snoring into the fucking oblivion.

  
Hunk looked pretty smug about getting the couch, even in his sleep. Pidge grumbled as she sat up and put her glasses on the coffee table, before laying back down and rolling herself in her blankets.

  
Keith had gone back up into his room, and when he saw Lance fast asleep in his bed, something deemed that this was going to be a problem.

  
But he saw no reason why it would be a problem, so he only shrugged and shred himself of his shirt, curling up under the blankets on his side of the bed, sure to stay as far away from Lance as possible, which was rather difficult, for they were sleeping in the same bed and under the same cover. He tried to ignore Lance's even breaths fanning across the nape of his neck, which sent chills down his arms and spine. He was already thinking of his excuse for in the morning when Lance questioned why he was sleeping with him. His train of thought, however, was cut off when Lance curled up to the curve of Keith's warm back, subconsciously, of course.

  
_It's gonna be a long night..._ Keith thought, trying to adjust himself so he was further away from Lance.

  
Lance then wrapped a leg around Keith's legs, before nuzzling in between his shoulder blades.

  
Keith sighed. _A really, really long night._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im not sure if this is as long as im thinking it to be so if it doesnt seem very long im sorry >;'0
> 
> pls tell me if i did a boo boo
> 
> also, for those of you who doesnt know what blowing a raspberry is: Blowing a raspberry involves sticking your tongue out of your mouth and producing a noise similar to that created by flatulence. -Urban Dictionary


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith started to protest, but Pidge shushed him with a wave of her finger. She smirked. "Use it wisely. It's limited."
> 
> "PIDGE," Keith whisper-yelled. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry for the hiatus!! 

"Mgh, brush your teeth."

  
Keith knit his brow together in confusion before slowly cracking his eyes open, only to be met with Lance's resting face in his own. The blue paladin grumbled in his sleep, "You smell like cowboy ass."

  
Keith slapped his hand to his mouth when he snorted. He had no idea Lance spoke in his sleep; now he had something else to make pick on Lance about.

  
Keith took a breath after a moment before removing his hand from his mouth. He stared at Lance, set in a daze when he saw a small smile graced Lance's lips. His heart fluttered into his throat when Lance snuggled further under the blankets, huffing as he did so.

  
Keith wanted so bad to just-

  
"HEY GET UP BREAKFAST IS READYYYY," Pidge burst through the door and yelled at the top of her lungs. There was no delay in reaction when Lance shot up and Keith fell off the bed, startled. Pidge blinked when she noticed Keith didn't have a shirt on, and Lance had bad bedhead, a little too bad if you asked her. She smirked. "...Was I interrupting something?"

  
Lance raised a sleepy eyebrow at her. Keith grumbled from the floor, rubbing his shoulder, "No, you weren't. But if you count sleeping, then yes."

  
Pidge hummed before shrugging and turning on her heel. "Hunk made his famous cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Get 'em while they're hot!"

  
Keith tilted his head. "Where'd he get cinnamon rolls?"

  
Pidge fled back downstairs, and she left the door open, unfortunately. Lance sighed before flopping back down into the bed on his back, staring up at the ceiling with sleepy eyes. He heard Keith huff from the floor and stand up. He stared at Keith through the side of his eye when the red paladin had sauntered over to the small table to the side of the bed. He grabbed (only from what Lance could tell, it was rather dark in that room without any windows except the light from the living room through the open door) a hair tie and tied his black hair in a small bun, leaving a few strands stray here and there.

  
Lance smiled and teased, "What's that for?"

  
"My hair." Keith grunted.

  
"Well obviously." Lance rolled his eyes. "I meant why are you doing that?"

  
"Doing what?" Keith looked down at him with question when he finished tying his hair back.

  
"Tying your hair."

  
"'Cause I can." Keith remarked. "Plus it would be wise to pull it back when I'm eating something sticky. I don't want it in my hair."

  
_I bet you'd want_ my _sticky in your hair._ "I bet you'd-" Lance clamped his mouth shut when that thought started to slip past his lips.

  
"What was that?" Keith quirked.

  
"Nothing, I didn't say anything," Lance mumbled, flustered and rather horrified that he almost said that out loud.

  
"Right," Keith hummed, shaking his head before turning to the door and venturing down the stairs. Lance blew up his cheeks and blew out, letting out all that built up tension that had quickly made itself known during that awkward moment. He wiped his face with his hands before flinging the blanket off of him and heading downstairs as well.

  
_Wait a minute... I slept with Keith. Or, more like, he slept with me! Why is this just now hitting me?!_

  
"Lance?" Keith restrained a laugh, Lance could hear it clear in his voice. "You look like you've just made the discovery of a lifetime."

  
_Bitch I think I did!_ Lance blinked himself out of his shocked state, looking at the others who were staring. Pidge had a smirk on her face, Hunk as well, while Coran eyed the two, obviously confused why they were making those faces, but looked like he decided to give up on trying to figure it out after a few seconds.

 

Pidge had pranced into the living room, Keith close on her tail. She came to a stop to her bag, getting to her knees and rummaging through it. The others were still at the table, chit-chatting and eating.

  
"That surprise I told you about," Pidge said, pulling out what looked like- No, _was_ , a console.

  
_Oh my god. Lance is gonna have his eyes glued to the TV screen the entire time he's here._ "...Are you kidding me?"

  
"I did say I got it for the both of you," Pidge smiled. "Maybe now you two won't be so bored."

  
"Pidge," Keith looked down at the console with a raised eyebrow. "You really didn't have-"

  
"Uph," Pidge cut Keith off. "But I did, and that's that. Just accept it."

  
"I never said I didn't want it," Keith stated. "You're too thoughtful."

  
"My pleasure." Pidge then glanced back down at her bag. "Oh yeah, I left something out." She stuck her hand in there before pulling something out within a few seconds of digging. She handed a small bottle to Keith, placing it in his hands.

  
Keith stared uneasily at Pidge, for she had a devilish smirk on her face. Keith slowly looked down at the bottle that she put in his hands, and, to his shock, it was a bottled of lube.

  
Keith started to protest, but Pidge shushed him with a wave of her finger. She smirked. "Use it wisely. It's limited."

  
"PIDGE," Keith whisper-yelled. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

  
"Nothing," Pidge reached over to the table and plucked her glasses from it, setting them on her face. "Just trying to help out a friend." She winked.

  
"Pidge," Keith said again, taking a deep breath. "I don't think-"

  
"That you'll use it?" Pidge interrupted. "You'd be surprised. Now shush and just take it. It's rude to decline someone's gift, you know."

  
Keith started to say something else, but thought it was best not to. He huffed and shoved the bottle in his pajama pants' pocket, hoping that no one would notice it, especially Lance. God, anyone but Lance. Keith felt like it would be the absolute end of this miserable world if Lance found this bottle in his hand, more or less in his pocket. It was terrifying just thinking about it.

  
_She's lost her mind._

  
Keith held the console close to him, deciding what to do with it as Pidge sauntered back to the table with the others. With a huff, he turned to the TV and got to his knees, setting the console beside the Blu-ray. The entire time he was hooking the console up, he focused on Lance's laughing, and it sent a small shiver down his spine. Out of everyone else's laughter, he could only hear Lance's, or really, he only chose to hear Lance's.

  
He didn't know why he was putting a delay on the decision. He wanted to be with Lance, if he thought about it. Maybe he was just afraid?

  
He didn't understand why he would be afraid, but at the same time it sort of made sense, in a way.

  
But he didn't want to be afraid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ag im v sorry uwu


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance felt a nudge on his shoulder, and finally broke his gaze away from Keith to look at the person who nudged him, whom was Hunk. Hunk looked around nervously while saying, "Sorry to interrupt you there, but I don't know if I'm going crazy or not... I saw something in the trees..."
> 
> Lance raised an eyebrow at him. "I think you're just paranoid. What could possibly be in those trees besides birds or squirrels?"
> 
> "I don't know, but whatever it was, it didn't look friendly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooOOOOOOF sorry for not uploading in a while i lost motivation to finish this chapter and the next and plus i was so busy it wasnt even funny ahah  
> but mainly just because i didnt have motivation :^)
> 
> pst pls let me know if i made any booboos

"C'mon guys! Why aren't you excited?" Pidge smiled brightly. " _Team bonding!_ "

  
They all frowned at her, except for Coran, who looked like he was about to implode with excitement.

  
"Don't you think it's a little too early?" Lance huffed, adjusting his backpack strap on his shoulder. "It's kinda cold, too."

  
"I have to check on the ranch..." Keith grunted. "There's coyotes around there. So this better not take long."

  
"Then you need a dog," Pidge insisted, raising an eyebrow at him.

  
"I just don't wanna get eaten by a bear or anything," Hunk said, gripping his backpack handle, letting the bag dangle to the ground. "If I die, or anyone else does, I point all fingers to Pidge."

  
"Ooh!" Coran twinkle-toed. "I get to see all the things of Earth! The plants, the nature!"

  
Pidge frowned, completely ignoring Coran. "It's just hiking, guys..."

  
"You said you were taking us to the movies!" Lance pouted.

  
"Yes, I did, but I wanted to get you all off your asses and enjoy Earth! We can't keep taking our time here for granted. You all know what happened to us; we were practically abducted into space by giant space cats and were stuck up there for what seemed like an eternity, fighting aliens to protect the universe! Who knows what will happen, now? We might get sucked back up there and never return! We gotta make the most of our time here while we have it. We've spent nearly twenty Earth years in space, and it's a shock that most of our parents are still alive! Now you all better shut up and enjoy this with me, alright?"

  
She had a point, and a good one, at that. No one could really disagree with her, now. There was no going back from this, even stubborn ole' Keith could admit that.  
"It'll be fun!" Pidge smiled, turning on her heel, following the beginning of the dirt path through the thicket of trees. The path slowly started to ascend, sloping up into the rather large mountain. The rest of them soon scrambled after her.

  
The rocks and dirt crumbled under their feet, making a soft crunching noise with each step they took. Birds twittered high in the trees as they hopped and flapped from one branch to another, causing quite a bit of a commotion up there. Bugs chirped in the fallen leaves and green grass off of the path, into the woods. The fragrance of pine needles hung in the crisp, cool air, as well as the smell of a small trickling stream off to their far right.

  
Lance inhaled the sweet scent, a slight smile glossing his lips. He's so used to the smell of gasoline and concrete filling his nose that he honestly didn't even notice it anymore, but now that he was actually out in the wilderness, the smell was strong and pronounced, however it wasn't overwhelming.

  
Lance let his eyes flick around the forest, admiring the vibrant greens and browns around him. It was beautiful through here. Lance's eyes then locked on the back of Keith's head unconsciously. He noticed it soon after he had done it, and he tried to pulling his gaze away from boring into the back of Keith's head, but he felt as if he was unable to move his eyes from him. Keith was practically eyecandy for Lance, and Lance felt as if he'd never get enough sugar.

  
Lance felt a nudge on his shoulder, and finally broke his gaze away from Keith to look at the person who nudged him, whom was Hunk. Hunk looked around nervously while saying, "Sorry to interrupt you there, but I don't know if I'm going crazy or not... I saw something in the trees..."

  
Lance raised an eyebrow at him. "I think you're just paranoid. What could possibly be in those trees besides birds or squirrels?"

  
"I don't know, but whatever it was, it didn't look friendly."

  
"What do you mea-" Lance cut himself short when he felt that familiar prickle on the nape of his neck. It was much stronger and sudden this time, therefore causing him to jerk in alarm.

  
He must have made some kind of noise, for everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at him in worry. "Lance?.." Keith was the first to say something. He trotted over to Lance, setting a hand on his back. "Everything okay?"

  
Lance hissed as the prickle started to feel like he was being stabbed by pins and needles. "There's... Something wrong-"

  
"Guys, I don't like this..." Hunk said nervously, his eyes glancing frantically up into the trees.

  
Keith followed Hunk's gaze, glancing around in the trees. Then, he felt the prickle he was sure Lance was feeling, only from what Lance described, his prickle was different. The tingly sensation ran down his spine, and made his mind fuzzy with anxiety. Due to being part Galran, his ears were far more sensitive than everyone else's, so he could hear more than they could, and he heard what they couldn't: a small snort of fatigue. And it wasn't from any forest animals, for sure.

  
"Ouch... This-" Lance complained. "This really hurts."

  
"Shh." Keith commanded with a flick of his hand, sending a hush over everyone. They all stood motionless, holding their breath as their eyes stayed locked onto Keith with nervousness. The latter scanned the forest, a stern glare stuck to his face while so.

  
It was dead quiet for quite a few moments, even the once twittering birds and rustling squirrels fell silent. This made everyone even more nervous, and they knew that what was making all the fuss, wasn't anything friendly.

  
Pidge silently and slowly pulled out one of the guns from the castle from her backpack, lifting it and ready to fire at a moment's notice.

  
The quiet was cut when Lance's phone started ringing, and it was the loudest thing in that forest at the moment. Keith turned his head to glare at Lance, whom had taken action before anyone could blink. He scrambled for it in his pocket, yanking it out.

  
He went to shut it off, but stopped immediately when he saw it was Shiro was calling, which was way unusual. He shook himself and quickly answered it, pulling it up to his ear. He then aggressively whispered, "This is a really bad time! What's..."

  
Lance was cut short when he heard Shiro grunt, and what sounded like a harsh shove. Shiro then rasped, "I think... We may have a problem."

  
"Wh-?"

  
Again, Lance couldn't finish what he was going to say when another voice came onto the phone. It wasn't any voice he recognized, either. The voice then growled, "All of you have exactly two days to get here. If you don't show, we'll blow his brains out, as well as his pretty little girlfriend." And with that, the phone call ended before Lance could say anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wasnt this supposed to be a dramatic bromance story


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone now stared at him, awaiting an answer to their question that was plastered across their faces.
> 
> Lance's eyes trailed over to Keith unconsciously, a bit of fear twinkling in his azure eyes. Keith raised an eyebrow at him.
> 
> "They have Shiro."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> umf i feel like im moving too fast with this story but oh well i want to get it done and over with already cries  
> ive been so sick lately so honestly i kinda rushed this chapter and the previous
> 
> i want to finish this story but like  
> uuuuURURURFHHRBFRUHJN BHijfm

Everyone now stared at him, awaiting an answer to their question that was plastered across their faces.

  
Lance's eyes trailed over to Keith unconsciously, a bit of fear twinkling in his azure eyes. Keith raised an eyebrow at him.

  
"They have Shiro."

  
"Who's 'they'?" Keith questioned, keeping his voice to a soft rasp.

  
"I don't know, but they're not here to fuck around."

  
Keith had a wave of concern sweep over him, as well as panic. He glanced around a few more times, before turning to the others. "We have to get out of here." He looked over to Pidge, "Pidge, how many more guns you have in there?"

  
"Just this one, sorry."

  
"Is the princess okay?" Coran asked, worry lacing in his voice, causing it to crack slightly. "What happened?" As Coran asked this question, Keith had grabbed Lance's hand and pulled him up to his feet before looking him over, making sure he was alright.

  
The tingling in Lance's neck had died down, but it was still prickling like ants were eating at his skin, which was much more bearable than earlier.

  
"Allura is okay," Lance sighed. "For now, that is..."

  
"What do you mean?" Keith asked next.

  
"Whoever was on that phone, has Shiro and Allura hostage in their own home. They're threatening to kill them if all of us don't show up there in two days."

  
"I bet it's Galra." Coran grumbled, glaring down at the dirt clearly upset. "We have to get to the-" The ginger cut himself short, before bringing everyone in and whispering at a level that would be impossible for anyone else outside of their little group to hear. "We have to get to the ship and check on the lions." Coran explained. "However, they mustn't know about the location of the lions without us there to attend to them."

  
"So you're saying that we have to go grab the lions and then get back to saving Shiro?" Hunk spoke. "What if we don't make it in time? Where is the castle and the lions even hidden?"

  
"And why did you keep something like that from us?" Pidge piped up.

  
"You can never be too safe." Coran responded. "It's not that Allura and I don't trust you all, but some of you are young, and you don't think."

  
Lance snorted.

  
"The less people that know about it, the lower the chances someone to accidentally reveal some information. Do you understand?"

  
Everyone nodded, some reluctantly.

  
"Good. Now, let us be on our way there. Head back towards the vehicle, quickly."

  
"Pidge, let me have the gun." Lance said with a smile. "You'll need a sharpshooter to be the one with the gun."

  
Pidge rolled her eyes with a slight smile, shoving the gun into Lance's arms. As they all started back down the trail to the vehicle, Lance tailed behind them slightly, taking on a slower pace than them. He held the gun at the ready, scanning the trees, sometimes turning in a circle to check behind them. He would lift the gun at every little rustle of leaves and every time a tree branch would move; just covering their six.

  
Once they reached the car, they all piled in, except for Lance, for a moment. He looked around one more time, before climbing in behind everyone else. They had taken Keith's truck, so the latter was the one to drive, of course.

  
The blue paladin plopped into the passenger seat, lowering the gun into the floorboard before quickly shutting the door. He sighed, lowering his head slightly in fatigue. What all had occurred at once drained him: the fright, the shock, the pain, the walking. That was a little too much for Lance to handle in just one day.

  
Lance lifted his head slightly and looked to the side, catching Keith's eye, whom had seemingly been staring at him. Lance blinked. "...What?"

  
"Are you okay?" Keith asked after a moment of silence. "Is your neck still hurting?"

  
"I'll be fine." Lance responded, shooting Keith a soft look of affection, which he knew good and well Keith would catch and would probably just make it awkward. But, this was hardly the time to be worrying about something like that, they had something much bigger and much more serious on their hands.

  
Unexpectedly, Keith shot the same look back, before turning his attention to starting the truck, and be on their way.

 

 

As they were driving down the road, no one spoke. They were all silent, staring out the windows watching the scenery fly by. After a moment, Keith broke the silence, saying, "Coran, if we're going to the castle, I need you to show me where to go."

  
"Actually..." Coran began. "I just remembered, the lions aren't with the castle. We scattered them out and we were sure to hide them well, so no worries. We need to get to one of the lions first, so you may find the rest. I tinkered with them a bit and set tracking devices in all of them, so now they can track each other, where ever they're at. The castle, however, is in... Oh, what do you call it? Massive two shits?"

  
Pidge was still looking out the window when she cracked a smile and chuckled. Lance snickered as well. Even Hunk giggled slightly.

  
Coran looked around quizzically, "What's so funny?"

  
"Massachusetts." Keith corrected with a snort. "But why all the way there? Why couldn't it have been a little closer? Do you know how long that will take us to get there from here?"

  
"Well you see, it wasn't meant to be close for emergencies like this, but was meant to keep it well hidden. You can't just put everything in one spot when you're trying to hide it. That's just the wise thing to do."

  
"So? Where do we find the first lion? The one that's closest to us?" Lance asked, turning around in his seat to face Coran.

  
"I've studied some maps of your world, and I think the blue lion is somewhere in Main?"

  
Lance raised an eyebrow. "Maine?"

  
"Sure." Coran shrugged. "How do you people pronounce all those fancy names?"

  
"We asked the same of you." Keith smiled.

  
In a serious and panicky situation, you'd think they would be a little more serious than this. But somehow, they managed to keep it together and keep a calm atmosphere, lightening the mood slightly. Of course, they were still scared and panicking slightly, but they kept it all under control. They were still being serious about this, but something about them just kept the heaviness of the situation from weighing down on them, putting them under pressure. In a way, they weren't really all that worried, for they knew that they could handle this and get to Shiro and Allura in time. They were confident and ready to go, and nothing was going to get in their way.

  
"We're going to have to get a flight there, then..." Keith sighed, leaning his head back into the seat. "I don't know if I have enough money for the five of us."

  
"Why can't one of us go get Shiro and Allura while the rest of us will split up and find our lions?" Hunk questioned, sitting forward in his seat slightly.

  
"No." Lance responded to that immediately. "They said they wanted all of us there at once. So in other words, if someone is missing while everyone else is there, they'll kill Shiro and Allura, and possibly us. Plus, that's just a bad idea in general, no offense."

  
"None taken," Hunk said sarcastically.

  
"Why don't we just pay for our own plane tickets?" Pidge piped up. "Keith, I think you can manage to pay for you and Lance's tickets, since you get a ton of money from Shiro each week. I'll pay for mine. Me and Hunk can try to pay for Coran's and Hunk's. Coran will go with me and Hunk, while you and Lance go together. Coran, where is the red lion?"

  
"Road eyes land."

  
"Rhode Island, that's not too far from Massachusetts. What about the rest?"

  
"The yellow, Oh raygon, the green, Mish keegan, and the black, lower Flow rider."

  
"How do we know exactly where they're at, though?" Hunk tilted his head.

  
"Oh, you'll feel it, trust me," Coran said. "I'm sure by now they know that we're in danger, and they let you know it."

  
"So you were right, Lance." Keith glanced at the said person. "That tingling in the back of your neck was the lions."

  
"Wait, what do you mean?" Coran sat up. "You've been having that feeling all along, before this even started, and didn't tell anybody?"

  
Lance frowned. "I told Keith. Who else was I supposed to tell? I just thought I had gone crazy; how was I supposed to know that it was the lions trying to tell me I was in danger and all this would lead to the mess we're in?"

  
Coran knit his brow together, calming his posture a bit before sitting back. "I suppose you're right. My bad."

  
After that, everyone fell silent again, the only sound to fill that silence was the gentle hum of the engine and the tires on the ground below them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof lemme know if i made any booboos


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The red paladin grunted, pulling away just as quickly as he'd brought Lance down. He put a hand over his mouth as his face became lurid with a pink flush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kayla?? updating her fanfiction?? who would have ever thought
> 
> hhhh hi guys im really sorry for not updating as often as i used to cries  
> i feel like the chapters are getting shorter and shorter by the moment and i want to throw myself out a window so as an apology i made a special chapter that i wasnt planning until later on in the story but whatever i know yall been waiting for this moment ;))
> 
> bUT good news is im slowly but surely getting over writers block and gettin my inspiration back!! hopefully ill be writing like a god in no time!!

"So what the hell are we supposed to do?"

  
"I don't know..."

  
Keith and Lance stood in the living room, the red paladin pacing back and fourth anxiously, his arms crossed over his chest. He was worried about Shiro and Allura. What if they didn't make it there in time? What if those bastards just decide to shoot Shiro and Allura through the heads just for the hell of it? What if they're torturing the couple as they speak? What if time was running out quicker than any of them expected?

  
What was going to happen?

  
"...But you shouldn't get yourself so worked up," Lance said, trying to calm the clearly panicking Keith. "We're going to get to them."

  
"Yeah," Keith glared over at the blue paladin. "After they shoot their brains out."

  
Lance wrinkled his nose. "That's not a very positive way of thinking..."

  
"What the fuck do you expect me to do?" Keith stopped pacing, turning to Lance. "They have two of our closest friends hostage, and you're not freaking out?"

  
"I'm just as worried as you are, Keith." Lance sighed. "I'm scared for them, honestly, but I at least can keep it under control and stay calm about it. Losing your shit isn't going to make this situation any better."

  
Keith let his purple gaze linger on Lance for a bit, before averting it to the floor with a frown. "I'm sorry."

  
Lance shook his head, bringing a hand up to his face and rubbing it in frustration. "It's okay... I'm not judging you. I understand."

  
The red paladin allowed himself to glance up at Lance, whom was staring at the wall opposite them. The look on the male's face made Keith's chest tighten. As much as he hated to admit it to himself or anyone else, he never wanted to see that look on Lance's face again.

  
After a moment of silence, Lance finally broke it with, "So I guess we'd better get started."

  
"...Yeah." Keith said reluctantly, dread slowly starting to seep over his nerves. This isn't how he intended to spend his time back on Earth. So far it had been utterly shitty: his mother hadn't called or contacted him not once, he was struggling to keep the ranch he owned and was having to ask for Shiro's help, Lance and him had gotten into an argument and ended up confessing to each other, which was no help to the way he feels now, now they were caught up in this mess. He just felt so emotionally exhausted it made him want to shut down. But he knew he couldn't. He knew he had to stay strong for this, to stay strong for everyone, to stay strong for Lance. To stay strong for Shiro.

  
A silence strung between them, neither daring to say a single word or make a single noise. Lance hated how quiet it was. The silence rung in his ears, to the point where it was almost deafening. He wanted to say something to Keith, but the atmosphere was so heavy, it took any courage to do so right from him.  
A sudden noise made him flinch slightly, and he turned around to face the only possible source it could have come from. His heart just about shriveled into a raisin when he saw Keith had his face hidden in his hand, his shoulders constricting every time he choked out and sniffled.

  
Keith was crying.

  
Lance felt a rush of panic wash over him, and acted without thinking. He practically ran to the boy, for whom was only a few feet away from the blue paladin, but Lance could honestly care less about how far he was away. Keith was in distress, and Lance couldn't bare to just stand by and watch. When he was a few mere inches from Keith, he slowly approached the male, afraid to startle him, almost as if he were approaching a deer. He slowly reached out a hand, gently setting it on the red paladin's shoulder, rubbing reassuring circles on it with his thumb.

  
"It's gonna be okay," Lance said softly, his gaze softening with worry as he stared at the other male. "We'll get through this."

  
Keith seemed to shy away from Lance's touch, but after a few more hiccups, he started to relax into the comforting warmth of Lance's hand, unconsciously starting to lean further into it. Lance seemed to notice this, for his hand started to travel to the red paladin's other shoulder. His tan hand cupped Keith's shoulder, gently pulling him into his body, only to wrap both arms around him, resting his chin on the dark head of hair.

  
"It's okay," Lance cooed, his hand traveling to the small of Keith's back, pulling the now shaking paladin closer to him. "It's okay."

  
Feeling Keith shake and cry against him made him tear up a bit as well, wanting so badly to take his pain and worries away.

  
After a minute of holding Keith, the latter seemed to nestle into Lance's arms, his hand that was covering his face had trailed down to take a fistful of the fabric of Lance's jacket. He hid his face in Lance's shoulder, his salty tears staining the fabric.

  
"...I know you're probably not going to agree with this but," Lance started, running his hand up and down Keith's spine, trying to calm him. "Maybe you should lay down, and we can start all this tomorrow."

  
After a moment of silence, Keith looked up at Lance, his eyes red and puffy and his nose runny, warm tears trailing down his face, he said, "No. We only have two days, and... Who knows how long it will take us to... To find our lions... And... And to get to Shiro..."

  
Lance frowned, patting his back. "I know, Keith. But you're a mess, I don't think you should be going out and about like this."

  
"Lance, I'm fine-"

  
"I don't think 'fine' counts as you crying uncontrollably in my arms. Just... Go lay down."

  
Keith pushed Lance away, separating them with a hand on the blue paladin's chest before wiping his eyes with his free hand. "I already said no. I will be fine. We need to leave as soon as possible."

  
Lance wrinkled his nose at Keith, slightly annoyed by his stubborness. "You've been through a lot lately, don't you think-"

  
"No, Lance. I want to leave as soon as we can. In other words, start getting your shit together, before I do it for you."

  
"Keith-"

  
"Drop it. And don't you dare say anything about what just happened, or I'll snap your neck."

  
Lance held both hands up in his defense, rolling his eyes as he glared to the side.

  
And at that moment, Keith stopped his little fit and stared at Lance, admiring the way his head leaned to the side slightly as he glared through the corner of his eye at the wall, the way his jacket rode up his body a bit when he raised his hands, the way his veins showed through the skin on his neck, the way his jawline was defined, the way his blue eyes sparkled in the light, the way his frown almost made him chuckle, the way his cheeks were still lit up a rose color from when he had been holding Keith.

  
The red paladin stop sniffling, finally, and all was silent for a moment before he spoke, glancing away from those piercing ocean blue eyes, "...Lance... I don't know what's going to happen, and that... That scares the shit out of me. I'm afraid that... Not only _we_ will be in danger, but the whole world. I don't know if we're going to survive this one." He swallowed. "...This was what I was afraid would happen..."

  
Lance kept silent. He blinked at the male in surprise, slowly lowering his hands back down to his sides, shocked by Keith suddenly opening his doors to him. The blue paladin was afraid to say anything, worried he would say the wrong thing... _Again_.

  
Keith, swallowing his fear, scrunched his eyes shut, and harshly grabbed Lance by the collar of his shirt, and brought him down to crash their lips together. The landing was rough, making it feel as if their teeth has just clashed together, and their noses squished harshly into each other.

  
The red paladin grunted, pulling away just as quickly as he'd brought Lance down. He put a hand over his mouth as his face became lurid with a pink flush.  
Lance held his nose, mumbling, "ow ow ow" over and over. He could feel his eyes begin to water slightly from the dull pain throbbing in his nose, but he wasn't crying or going to, of course.

  
Keith finally came back to his senses, shaking his head, trying to rid himself of the heat increasing on his face. He looked at Lance and quickly apologized, reaching a hand out to him before quickly pulling it back to the safety of his body.

  
Lance looked up at Keith with a small glare, and Keith just about withered, afraid that he'd done the wrong thing. He furrowed his brow together and said, "Lance... I-I'm so sorry... I don't-"

  
"Did you have to be so rough?" Lance smiled slightly, still holding his nose.

  
Keith blinked, staring at the blue paladin in a startled silence. "I'm sorry... You're... Not mad?"

  
Lance snorted, shaking his head. "Nah. I was expecting it at some point, but you took me by surprise that time."

  
The other male allowed a small smile to creep onto his lips, feeling his chest swell. Lance seemed to notice this, for he rolled his eyes and grabbed Keith's arm. "C'mere, you obviously don't know how to kiss."

  
Keith felt his face heat up instantly, feeling Lance's gentle fingers hook under his chin and slowly tilt his face up, his breath fanning across Keith's lips. Lance teasingly leaned down painfully slow, until Keith practically growled and snaked his hand around to the nape of Lance's neck, pulling him down onto his soft lips once again. It wasn't quite so rough this time, but was still pretty sloppy; that was mostly Keith's fault.

  
Lance pulled away for a second, before laughing, "Stop, Keith. You're shit at this."

  
Keith wrinkled his nose and knit his brow together, looking up at Lance.

  
"Let me show you how it's done," the blue paladin grinned, calmly leaning down to place several small kisses on Keith's warm cheeks, trailing down to the corner of his mouth and planting a few firm kisses there, before going in for the kill. He gently placed his lips on Keith's again, kissing him softly.

  
Keith tried to kiss back, but that only made the distracting sounds of smacking. Lance pulled away for a brief moment, mumbling, "slow down", before leaning in again. Keith seemed to hold his lips firm, which was still causing quite the noise. Again, Lance mumbled against the red paladin's lips, "relax". Keith did as told, and the smacking stopped almost immediately. Lance really knew how to kiss... The feeling of his soft lips creating friction with his own made his heart leap into his throat and race like there was no tomorrow.

  
Their lips were locked in a calm battle against each other, but that died out soon when Keith pulled away for a moment, catching his breath. Lance let his pretty blue eyes trail over Keith's face, which was colored with every dark shade of red you could imagine. He smirked before leaning in again to attack the skin on Keith's jawline, allowing him to catch a breather.

  
"Lance... Don't think because this happened... That you're getting out of leaving."

  
Lance pouted, stopping his actions and mumbling against the fragile skin, "You're getting me too excited, though."

  
Keith tensed, glancing down only to quickly avert his gaze around the room. "I don't... Can we... Take this slow?"

  
"Are you talking about _us_ or something else?" Lance quirked.

  
"Us, Lance," Keith hesitantly put a hand on the other male's shoulder and gently pushed him away to face him. "I don't want to jump into this... Let's just start off... Slow?"

  
Lance frowned, but he understood completely. He was slightly upset that he couldn't get what he'd wanted from Keith so badly at this point, but, he couldn't complain. He'd gotten some kisses on Keith's face and attacked his lips, so he was okay. He nuzzled into the crook of the other male's neck. "Alright. Whatever floats your boat."

  
Keith sighed in relief. "Thank you."

  
"Of course."

  
They stayed silent, just enjoying the silence and each other's embrace. Lance was smiling like a dumbass against Keith's skin, and he was hoping to god that Keith couldn't feel that. But little did he know, the red paladin could feel it clear as day, and that made him smile as well. Reluctantly, he pushed Lance away again, before placing a quick kiss on his nose. "Let's go ahead and get our stuff packed, okay?"

  
"Okay..." Lance said, in a rather small daze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again so RRY for it being so short i promise ill make future chapters longer!! 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance shushed him with his index finger, pressing it to Keith's lips, looking at him with a stern look. Keith made awkward eye contact with Lance, swallowing. Lance then said, "She's here. In that building. But there's something wrong..."  
> Keith wrinkled his nose, and mumbled against Lance's finger. "What do you mean?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi im finally getting my motivation back so hopefully i should be back in gear in no time uwu
> 
> also please inform me of any booboos i made oof

Keith stuffed his bag into the back seat of his truck, which didn't contain a lot. It only held some extra clothes and some other necessary items. His truck smelled like Pidge, Hunk, Coran, Lance, and the forest that they had just fleed from, which kind of gave it a funky smell.

  
The three others had taken Lance's car to get to the airport, while the two males made preparations, so, thankfully, they had alone time. And during that alone time, all in a matter of a few minutes, Keith had finally established a intimate relationship with Lance. His mind kept drifting back into the past to the moment he'd roughly slammed his face into Lance's. He felt a heat rush up to his face, feeling slightly embarrassed of his sudden action.

  
He meant for it to be like in the movies, perfect timing, but cheesy and sweet. But he'd done fucked that up the moment he took that fistful of Lance's shirt, and he could almost say he regretted it, but honestly, he didn't. He was glad that things went the way they did. If they didn't make this one out alive, and Keith hadn't had done what he did, he would never be at peace.

  
He smiled to himself, allowing the intensifying heat on his face to stay as he played the scene in his head over and over. The way Lance's lips felt so soft and gentle against his own made his stomach just about float away with all the butterflies in it. He sighed, shutting the door behind him and turning on his heel to head back into the house to check up on Lance; see if he needed any help.

  
Keith yelped when he turned around to see the male in mind right behind him, right in his face, wearing a shit eating grin. "What'cha thinkin' about?"

  
The red paladin wrinkled his nose, trying to force the flush on his cheeks down, before feeling his ears ignite. "Nothing."

  
"The look on your face says differently," Lance cocked an eyebrow, setting a hand on his hip.

  
Keith huffed, leaning up to place a peck on Lance's lips, before quickly retreating to get into the truck, attempting to end the conversation.

  
Then out of the blue, he felt a strike on his ass.

  
"LANCE," Keith whipped his head around to glare daggers at the guilty paladin.

  
Lance shrugged, putting his hands up in the air in his defense, before innocently but snarkily saying, "Wasn't me."

  
"Sure." Keith snorted haughtily, turning to swing the truck's door open, climbing in to plop into the driver's seat. He locked his purple gaze onto Lance, watching him walk over to the other side to hop in as well. Once Lance was settled, Keith sat there, staring out the windshield. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, sighing nervously. He then flicked his gaze over to Lance. "You ready?"

  
The latter shrugged. "I sort of have no choice but to be as ready as I'll ever be."

  
"Right..." Keith blinked himself out of his worries, before pulling out of his dirt driveway, heading out onto the road, driving down the route that would lead them to their lions.

  
Both of them were silent, before Keith had a sudden thought. He looked over at Lance with worry, before saying, "How are we going to get all the lions back?"  
Lance raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

  
Keith turned his attention back to the road. "I mean that there's five lions, and only four paladins to drive them. Since Shiro and Allura are hostage, I don't know who's going to pilot what lion. And I don't think we'll have the kind of time on our hands to try and make one of the lions accept Coran to take a hold of them for a bit. It sure didn't work last time he tried. I either pilot the black lion or the red lion, which means you'll either pilot the red or blue lion. Pidge and Hunk keep their own, but I don't..."

  
"Whoa," Lance waved his hands at Keith, stopping him in the middle of his sentence. "I get what you're saying, you don't have to go into detail..." He sighed. "Let's just try to think positively? I mean, you never know, the lions might realize that we're in a state of an emergency and will accept Coran whether they like it or not."

  
"...I guess you're right." Keith frowned, slumping over in his seat slightly. "I just can't help but doubt."

  
"I know," Lance responded simply, looking down at his feet in the floorboard.

 

A couple of hours passed when they finally reached the airport, and it was just turning noon, so they still had quite the time on their hands. They had stayed silent the entire two hours, neither boys wanting to make a peep. They were letting there doubts, worries, and fears wash over them while they could. The truck was parked in the parking lot of the airport, after they had gotten and paid for their tickets. Luckily, they caught a plane that was leaving for Alabama in less than an hour, and that was more than enough time for Keith. They hurried in, throwing all their stuff where it needed to be and whatever else. After they were checked, they were good to go ahead and get on the plane.

  
But, they had a little trouble beforehand. They had gotten different seats, instead of being right beside each other, and Keith protested strongly against it.  
"I'm sorry sir, but that's just the way it works here," the officer said kindly, crossing her arms across her chest to seem more serious and threatening, but her stance did not phase Keith in the slightest bit.

  
"There is no 'that's just the way it works', ma'am," Keith mocked, huffing through his nose like an irritated horse. "I demand to be seated next to him."

  
"Sir-"

  
Lance butted in, reaching his hand out to slap it across Keith's chest, holding him back from doing anything stupid. He looked up at the lady and smiled in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, ma'am. He's just been through a lot... Please just... Give him the seat next to mine before he does something stupid and embarrasses me more than he already has." He flicked his ocean blue eyes to look through the corner of his eyes to glare at Keith, who returned his look.

  
"I..." she hesitated. "Ugh, fine. But if I get fired, I put full blame on you two."

  
"Yes ma'am," Lance smiled. "Thank you."

  
"Don't mention it." She huffed, snatching Keith's ticket before taking out a pen and marking through his original seat number, then wrote the seat that was next to Lance's. She shoved it back into the red paladin's hands, before shooing the two of them off to the plane.

  
After that incident, they had hurried to get on the plane and to their seats. Once they plopped in their seats, Lance sitting at the window and Keith on the outside, the blue paladin turned to Keith and said, "Was that really necessary?"

  
Keith didn't respond, but kept his head turned away from Lance with a huff. Jesus, this boy had a temper that was untameable.

  
"Maybe, once we get to Alabama," Keith started, totally ignoring Lance's question. "We grab the blue lion, then fly to get the black lion in the blue, since, it's quicker and cheaper." He snorted. "You take the blue lion back to the castle; where Coran's headed, then me and you will head out in the black lion to fetch the red one, and you can pilot that one back."

  
"...That sounds fine to me." Lance sighed, turning his head to stare out the window with a forlorn look.

  
Keith stared at him with a worried look, before slowly stretching out his hand to grasp the lonely one that sat limply in Lance's lap. When Lance felt the reassuring grip on his hand, he looked over at Keith with a small smile before rubbing his thumb against the skin on Keith's hand. The red paladin smiled back, staring into those pretty blue eyes, feeling like he would never come out of the trance Lance's eyes held onto him. He loved it so much, it just about made him melt into a puddle on the floor.

  
He saw the corners of Lance's lips tip up slightly, and he realized he must be staring too much. He blinked and shook himself out of his little trance, mumbling, "sorry" with a pink hue to his cheeks.

  
"It's okay," Lance said softly. "Just gives me a chance to admire you without you socking me in the face for staring too long."

  
Keith snorted, rolling his eyes.

  
There weren't a lot of people on this flight, so there was only Keith, Lance, a man and what they suspected his wife in the seats behind them, two women, and a fairly old man. They weren't complaining, though. It was pleasantly quiet on the plane.

  
It was then the lady over the intercom announced that the plane would be taking off in about two minutes. And when those two minutes passed, the plane started to whir as the engines cut on and rolled forward down the runway. Soon enough, the large machine was air-bound, its giant wings cutting through the wind.

  
It lifted higher and higher quickly. And soon enough, they were nearly reaching the clouds. Keith popped Lance on the thigh with his hand, grabbing his attention. Lance looked at him, raising an eyebrow in question. Keith then said, "You might wanna pop your ears."

 

It was quite a while before they landed, and when they started letting passengers off, the two boys practically darted out. They'd gotten their stuff and called for a cab, fleeing from the airport as fast as they could. Once their cab arrived, they hopped in and hurried the cab driver to a hotel.

  
Throwing their money at the driver, they quickly thanked him and scurried into the building. They hastily filled out some paperwork and rented out a room. They didn't stay long, for they only threw their bags onto the one bed they had and ran off. At this point, every second counted against them, and time was not on their side.

  
"Okay..." Keith huffed, pacing back and fourth in front of the hotel building. "Do you feel her? Or anything?"

  
Lance paused, holding his breath as he stared off to the side, concentrating. Indeed, he felt a small tingle, which was the blue lion letting him know she was here. He nodded. "It's really faint, though."

  
Keith growled, stopping to tap his foot anxiously on the concrete under him. He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone, calling Pidge.

  
Pidge answered quickly. "Hey, what's up?"

  
"Ask Coran how we're supposed to know where to go? Is there some hints she gives us other than tingling?"

  
Pidge said, "Hey, Coran? Keith wants to know if there's any other signs the lions might give him other than tingling", but she wasn't talking to Keith, of course.  
He heard in the background, "I'm not so sure. If you can, you can try and contact her with your mind, using your link with each other and ask her to give some images or directions to where she's at."

  
"Is that it?" Keith asked, impatience starting to nag at his nerves.

  
"That's all I can say." You could almost hear the shrug in Coran's voice. "I don't know what else to tell you."

  
Keith sighed, mumbling, "Alright... Be safe."

  
Once he hung up, Lance raised an eyebrow at him in question.

  
"Coran said you could try and contact her through your link and ask her where she's at." Keith said simply.

  
Lance shrugged, "It's worth a try."

  
Keith gestured for him to go ahead and try. So Lance did so, closing his eyes and focusing on the tingling in his neck, and the familiar, but faint buzz in his mind that indicated that she was close and listening. The blue paladin jolted slightly when he felt a presence enter his mind, but of course, he quickly recognized it to be his lion. Images quickly flashed in his head, and he gasped.

  
"What?" Keith looked at him with a bit of worry.

  
Lance opened his eyes with a film of excitement. He grinned from ear to ear, and said, "She's not far."

  
"Great." Keith grunted. "Let's get a cab and tell him where to go."

  
They waved another cab over, and Lance asked him to drive to Tuscaloosa. It was around 30 minutes when they arrived to their destination, the cab driver dropping them off at a gas station. There, they spotted a car that was up for a few days rent. The two boys looked at each other and smiled, quickly rushing over to the car. It wasn't the fanciest thing, but it would do them good. The rent pay was fairly cheap, only about $100 a day. Of course, they wouldn't have it for that long, hopefully, so they only paid the fee to rent the car. Lance was tossed the keys to it, and the old man who'd put it up for rent turned and glared at them both, before rumbling, "You boys better take care of her. She's pretty much on her last leg, but my only way of making money. You bring her back without a scratch, or I'll have both of your heads stuck on a stake that's stabbed in my wall." And with that, he turned around grumpily with his shaggy beard and long dirty black jacket wrapped tightly around him, sauntering into the gas station with the money the boys had given him.

  
Lance looked down at Keith, who only shrugged, before hopping in on the passenger side, while Lance climbed in on the driver's.

  
"Okay... So where are we headed to?" Keith asked, buckling himself into the dusty car seat. It sort of stunk in here, but they couldn't really complain, for this was their only way of getting around besides a cab, and they surely couldn't afford to keep waving cabs over to drive them from place to place.

  
"I don't know, really," Lance frowned. He saw a look on Keith's face that said just as loud as his voice would, "are you actually shitting me right now?"  
"Nice one, brightass," Keith snorted.

  
"No!" Lance shook his head, starting to pull out of the gas station. While they were there, he made sure that the tank was completely full, and to their luck, it was. "I didn't mean... Look, I'm only getting directions by pictures in my mind here, okay? It's harder than it sounds."

  
"Then how did you know that she was close?"

  
"She told me."

  
"I didn't think you could understand your lion?"

  
"I can't... But... It's almost like... Like, say you were dreaming about someone. And the person you were dreaming about doesn't look at all how they look now, but instead a complete stranger, but for some reason, you know it's them. It's sorta like that."

  
Keith shook his head with a breathy chuckle. "Whatever you say."

  
Lance flicked his blue eyes around, identifying all the landmarks his lion had just given him and followed them until he saw one after the other. He moved down the line quickly, getting down to some of the last one's that the lion had given him. And before long, Lance came across the last landmark and nearly slammed on his brakes, for he nearly missed it.

  
Right now, they were in an abandoned area, where there lay old buildings and the roads were nothing but gravel and dirt. Now the tingling was like fire ants at this point, and he knew that this was were she lay. He stepped out of the rusty old car, as did Keith and they looked around. About this time, the sun was starting to set, and that's when Keith's panic really started to kick in. Now they practically only had a day left until those bastards blew Shiro and Allura's brains all over the floor. Keith shuddered.

  
Lance stopped in his tracks, and stared at an unsightly large building. It was crumbling to dust with only the skeleton of the building supporting the last bit of it. A large gray tent-like material was flung over the top of it, flapping and swaying in the gentle breeze. He cautiously approached it, narrowing his eyes at it.

  
Keith stayed back, but then scurried up to the blue paladin before whisper-yelling, "LANCE, C'MON NOW. HURRY UP, WE DON'T HAVE ALL NIGHT."

  
Lance shushed him with his index finger, pressing it to Keith's lips, looking at him with a stern look. Keith made awkward eye contact with Lance, swallowing. Lance then said, "She's here. In that building. But there's something wrong..."

  
Keith wrinkled his nose, and mumbled against Lance's finger. "What do you mean?"

  
"There's someone else here," Lance glanced around, watching the breeze kick up a bit of the dust off the ground.

  
The red paladin looked around as well, only with a raised eyebrow. He then looked back at Lance with worry.

  
Lance slowly pulled away, tip-toeing up to the building. He was relying on his lion at this point to tell him where these people were lying in wait at. She directed him into the woods just behind the building. The blue paladin twisted his head to look back at Keith and waved him over. Keith cautiously sauntered over to him, watching him intently. He tilted his head up at Lance in question.

  
"They're in the woods," Lance gestured with a nod of his head towards the thicket of trees that sprout tall and proud and green from the earth, along with shrubs and the like.

  
"What are we going to do about them?" Keith asked, cocking an eyebrow. "We can't fight them alone without any weapons. Plus, who knows how many of whatever's in there waiting to snap our necks at a moment's notice. And even if we could fight them on our own, what would we do with them afterwards? We can't kill them, or we'd literally just be beating them to death, and I'd prefer not taking anymore lives than I have to. Plus, that's just brutal to beat someone or something to death in general."

  
"But they could be spies or something that's not willing to help us," Lance said. "And if they're Galra, then we have to, because if we don't, then who knows what they'll do when they see us leave with the lion. My own damn lion could be bait to lead us into a trap."

  
Lance was smarter than Keith took him for, and he had reasonable observations that he really couldn't argue with, no matter how much he disagreed with it. Keith sighed, averting his gaze to the ground. "Okay... But what are we going to defend ourselves with?"

  
The blue paladin bit his lip, glancing around the dusty area. "Hell if I know."

  
Keith cursed under his breath, looking around also. When he found nothing but dry flimsy twigs and tiny pebbles he gave up with a huff. "What do we do then, brightass?"

  
Lance ignored his comment, when he noticed a hole in the crumbling brick in the wall. He crouched down to peek through it.

  
And sure enough, there was the blue lion, curled up with its tail tucked close to its metal body. Lance glared around the inside of the building making sure no one was in there, and listened intently. He then remembered how Keith was part Galran, and knew Keith had way better hearing than him.

  
He turned to look at Keith, and whispered, "Psst, can you hear anything?"

  
The red paladin stood still and listened intently for a moment, before responding, "Nothing but the rustling of leaves and the wind blowing."

  
"Hm," Lance hummed in his throat glaring through the hole in the wall. "You're not playing tricks on me now, are you?" he said to himself.

  
After that question, she quickly jabbed at his mind, which made him flinch slightly in alarm. She was trying to get his attention, and he deciphered what she was trying to say by all the images and emotions. Whatever was just there had gone away, for now. That was their cue.

  
"C'mon," Lance told Keith, and they both slipped into the building, hopefully going unnoticed by anyone or anything. They laid their eyes upon the great blue cat, Lance smiling at the familiar excitement bubbling up in his chest at the sight of her. Then her eyes suddenly lit up like giant orbs, and seemingly looking directly down at them. It was a strange thing, really. This meant-to-be ship was almost alive, and in some way, she was, with her own personality and everything.

  
The giant cat sat up slowly, taking care not to make too much noise or knock anything over, before leaning down again to place her chin onto the dusty ground, opening her mouth to the cockpit.

  
Lance looked at Keith, and the red paladin nodded. They both ran up the ramp, quickly making their way into the rather small cockpit. Lance plopped down into the seat, Keith standing behind him with his hand placed on the headrest.

  
"Where to next?" Lance asked, looking up at Keith.

  
Keith stood silent for a moment, before saying, "Florida. Maybe we should try and call Pidge and see if they've had any luck." He jabbed his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone, going to call Pidge before a beep interrupted him. He flicked his gaze up and looked at Lance in confusion.

  
"I didn't do anything," Lance said quickly, holding his hands up.

  
"HEY!" came a voice that sounded throughout the room. "You guys found the blue lion?!" It was only Pidge.

  
"...Huh, that's new..." Lance mumbled before speaking up. "Yeah, I take it you guys found the green? Since... Somehow we're talking through our lions."

  
"Yeah," Pidge said. "We're on our way to get the yellow right now. The gal's flying us there."

  
"Okay. Good luck."

  
"You too." And with that, the call came to an end.

  
The blue paladin sighed and reached out to grasp the controls, when he stopped. He looked down at all the buttons in front of him. He leaned down to it, placing a gentle hand on the panel.

  
Keith glanced down at him with a raised eyebrow, watching him intently.

  
"Hey girl," Lance cooed softly to, what Keith guessed the lion. "Can you take us to Florida? And please be quick and try to stay out of sight... We have to get to the black lion as soon as possible."

  
Lance felt his scalp prickle, and a presence in his mind that felt like a "yes".

  
"Thank you," The blue paladin sat back in his seat, his head lying against the headrest, puffing up his cheeks with air, and letting it out.

  
Keith nearly stumbled when the lion started to move, then lifted off quickly, darting above the clouds.

  
All was silent in the cockpit, except for the gentle hum of the lion cutting through the wind outside. The boys didn't speak for a while, the two just looking out the glass and admiring the pink fluffy clouds under them, and watching the now setting sun start to sink below the horizon.

  
All the glowing screens and buttons in the cockpit had suddenly gone off; the screens disappeared and the buttons faded into a blank gray, which allowed more of a view outside and more of the pink, orange, and purple hues to seep through and into the cockpit.

  
Keith sighed and sat down on the floor next to the seat Lance sat in, crossing his legs as he set his hands in his lap.

  
"How do you think all this is going to go?" Keith asked after a moment of silence.

  
It took a few seconds for Lance to respond. "I dunno."

  
The red paladin hummed in his throat, before staring up at Lance. The blue paladin must have felt Keith's gaze on him, for he looked down with his blue eyes and smiled at him. Keith felt his heart flutter and he couldn't help but smile back. Lance leaned down with his hand propped in the seat, supporting his weight. Keith knew what he was going for, and didn't protest against it; he tilted his chin up to meet Lance's lips with his own.

  
The feeling of their lips against each other made their chests tighten with glee and their stomachs churn with butterflies. Keith slowly started to stand, but never left Lance's lips. He carefully crawled over the blue paladin's lap, straddling Lance's hips with his knees. He was now the one that was hovering, so Lance had to tip his head up slightly to keep the kiss locked tight.

  
Keith gently pressed his hands against Lance's shoulders, gripping the fabric of his shirt. The blue paladin ran his hands up along Keith's sides, only to come back down and stop at his hips. His thumbs rubbed small circles against Keith's sides, before they slid down further to his thighs. He hooked his fingers in the bend of Keith's knees, pulling him slightly closer.

  
One of Keith's hands traveled up the nape of Lance's neck, before entangling his fingers in the dark brown hair. He parted his lips, pulling away slightly to allow a space in between their lips to let air in. He sucked in a breath, but that was quickly stolen when Lance snaked his tongue between Keith's teeth. The red paladin was very tempted to bite down on it so Lance would let him breathe for a moment, for he couldn't quite get enough air through his nose, but alas, he decided not to.

  
"Are you sure..." Keith started, pulling away for a bit to speak and breathe. "It's okay to do this in here?"

  
Lance retreated from Keith's face, and smirked at him. "D'aw, she won't mind. Right, Blue?"

  
There was a hum, which sounded, to Keith, rather grumpy, and which he took as a _yes, she does mind_. Keith snorted, shaking his head.

  
"I know I asked to take this slow," Keith said, glancing down to stare at Lance's chest, avoiding his gaze. "But we don't know how all this is going to go... We might not get a chance to have a real relationship because..." He swallowed. "We might not make it, this time. So, before we jump head first into danger and potentially get ourselves killed, I want to do what I can before it's too late."

  
Lance frowned at Keith. He took one of his hands from the bend of Keith's knee and brought it up to the red paladin's face. He hooked his index finger under Keith's chin, gently tilting his head up a bit to look at him. Keith broke his gaze from Lance's chest to the blue paladin's face. He felt a small heat rush up to his ears.

  
"Keith..." Lance said softly, knitting his brow together in worry. "I know you're scared. I'm scared too... You don't have to explain that to me. I understand." He stroked Keith's jawline with his thumb. "But please don't think like that, okay?" He leaned in, pressing their foreheads together. "We need all the positivety we can get to get through this."

  
The red paladin slowly nodded, murmuring, "Okay..."

  
"We're gonna get through this?" Lance asked Keith, looking at him expectantly.

  
"Yeah," Keith responded with a small smile. "We're gonna get through this."

  
"Together?"

  
"Together."

  
"That's the spirit," Lance cooed, leaning in to press a soft kiss on Keith's lips, with which Keith responded to by returning the kiss.

  
They remained silent for a while, locked in a battle of lips, with hands going up shirts and down just over the hem of pants, but nothing too intense.  
Keith suddenly started to doubt that he wanted to do this here and now. It made him a little uncomfortable that they would be doing such a thing in the cockpit in Lance's lion, which practically had a mind of its own. Plus, he just didn't think he was ready yet. He removed his lips away from Lance's, and the blue paladin followed his head back, before pulling away and fluttering open his eyes. He looked up at Keith and cocked an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

  
The red paladin smiled. "Nothing... I just love you." He leaned in to place kisses on Lance's freckled cheeks.

  
"Aww, Keith," Lance chuckled, wrapping his arms around Keith's waist, rubbing his back with a hand. "I love you too... You know that's the first time you've said that to me?"

  
Keith hummed in his throat, working his way from Lance's cheeks, to the bridge of his nose. He kissed between his eyes, but was off a little, and ended up placing a peck in between Lance's eye and the bridge of his nose. Lance closed that eye and wrinkled his nose with a small smile, the hand that was rubbing Keith's back traveled back down to the other male's thighs, while his other hand remained on his back, hugging him close.

  
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lance practically whispered in Keith's ear, causing him to shudder to the feeling of Lance's breath tickling the shell of his ear.

  
"No." Keith said simply, pulling away again. "Maybe another time... We need our energy so we can get this mess over with. If we get all the lions and find the castle early, maybe then..."

  
"Alright," Lance nodded in understanding. He sighed and laughed breathlessly. "Damn, Keith... Why do you get me excited then tell me we aren't gonna do anything?"

  
"My way of teasing you, I guess," Keith smirked, pecking Lance's lips. "Now scoot over, I have a feeling that this is gonna be a long ride, so we might as well try and get some sleep while we can."

  
Lance raised an eyebrow with a small smile, before doing so. He shuffled to the edge of the seat, lying on his side to allow Keith some room. The red paladin lie on his side as well, facing Lance. The blue paladin looked down at him and smiled before throwing an arm over Keith's side, hugging them closer together. Keith's face was just under Lance's chin, so he nuzzled into Lance's throat, feeling his Adam's apple against his nose. Lance rested his chin on the top of Keith's head as chills ran up the nape of his neck at the feeling on Keith's face nestled against the skin of his throat. He couldn't help but smile. God, he loved his boy so much, there was no possible way to express it.

  
They lay still together. The warmth radiating off of Keith lulled Lance and knocked him out like a light. Before long, Keith eased into a soundless sleep as well, the two boys entangled in the pilot's seat of Lance's lion as she carried them to their destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FLUFF FLUFF LFUTTD FLGUFG


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dark haired male only furrowed his brow and wrinkled his nose at him. Then the Galran fired, a loud bang ripping through the room, causing most everyone to jerk in alarm. The gun smoked steam from its muzzle, and its holder starting cackling like a hyena. "Whoops! Guess this is what they meant by a 'hair trigger'. This thing is really sensitive." He flipped it between his claws, admiring it with an evil twinkle in his eyes. "I think I like your guns better than ours, you know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo shits goin down
> 
> as always please inform me of any booboos

The Galran that had taken the two of them hostage in their own home sat on their couch, his ugly purple feet propped on the coffee table in front of him. The others sat on the couch as well, sure to leave some room for each other, while two others stood at their sides.

  
Shiro was tied to the railing of his staircase, as was Allura, who sat right next to him. Their hands were tied horribly tight together with rope, and Shiro could feel it cut through his skin every time he shuffled. Their mouths were gagged, and their feet were tied together. Allura had her head resting against the rails behind her, staring at the wall opposite them, a disconsolate look stuck to her face. She looked miserable, and how bad Shiro wished he could just hold her and run his hands through her thick, soft white hair.

  
"You know," the lead Galran started, directing his speech towards the two. "You have a very nice place. Why doesn't anybody else have a home like this? It's nice and roomy, right boys?"

  
"Aye," they all said in unison, a few chuckling evilly here and there.

  
"Hm," the lead Galran hummed in his throat, looking up at the ceiling. "Y'know... I'm sitting here wondering if you're little buddies will even come to your rescue. They sure are taking their sweet time. I figured they'd have been down here in no time... Hum, maybe I should just kill you right now, yes?" He sat up, pulling his gun from the belt around his waist and pointed it at Shiro.

  
The dark haired male only furrowed his brow and wrinkled his nose at him. Then the Galran fired, a loud bang ripping through the room, causing most everyone to jerk in alarm. The gun smoked steam from its muzzle, and its holder starting cackling like a hyena. "Whoops! Guess this is what they meant by a 'hair trigger'. This thing is really sensitive." He flipped it between his claws, admiring it with an evil twinkle in his eyes. "I think I like your guns better than ours, you know."

  
Shiro forcefully opened his eyes, turning his head from the floor back up to the Galran. He now realized he nor Allura had been shot, but a hole in between them showed where the bastard had shot. He stared at Allura, who looked like she nearly pissed herself from fright. She sat up straight, and she bored holes through Shiro's soul, causing the male's heart to crumble to see her like that. Tears started to build up in her sparkling multicolored eyes, running down her tan cheeks.

  
Shiro knit his brow together in worry, his heart shattering as he watched her cry, knowing he couldn't do anything to comfort her.

  
"Hey, Brezmawl?" One of the Galrans spoke. "Maybe you shouldn't mess with them like that. The boss wants them at their best and completely sane."

  
"Shut up," Brezmawl hissed, shoving the gun back onto his belt. "I know what I'm doing."

  
The two that stood by Shiro and Allura glanced at each other in unsureity, shrugging and listening to the conversation they were having on the couches.

  
"Those paladins have a Galran on their side," Brezmawl began rambling nonsense again, like he'd been doing for the past several hours. "And that Galran is one of the paladins. Do you know how much this pisses me off?" He growled in his throat. "If that Galran could've been a paladin of one of those lions, I could have been a paladin, you know! If any Galran can, why not me?" He smirked, resting his forearms on his knees. "I would make a great paladin, don't you think?" He cackled.

  
Everyone remained silent, except for Shiro, who huffed through his nose, shaking his head.

  
Brezmawl raised an eyebrow at him, before pulling his gun out again, gesturing for someone to remove his gag.

  
One of the two Galrans who stood guard beside the couple leaned down and yanked the gag from Shiro's mouth, before pulling away again.

  
Shiro bared his teeth, spitting out a bit of blood from where they had socked a good punch to his face earlier. His hair was messy and hung in his face. He grumbled, "You're not going to make it out of here whole, if not alive. Now give her some food, don't fucking starve us." Shiro spat, glaring daggers through Brezmawl's skull.

  
Brezmawl hummed. "Why just her? Why don't you want to be fed, hm? Is it because you value her life over yours? Hah, I don't blame you. She's a princess of an alien race, after all, and possibly the only living person in her royal family. You're doing the right thing, protecting her like you are. Humph, you'd make a great mate for her, you know? Hah, but since you care about her so much, we're only going to feed you."

  
"No, don't." Shiro growled. "Don't you dare."

  
"Well well," Brezmawl smirked. "Hey!" He turned to one of the Galrans sitting beside him. "One of you go check and see what's left in that silver container in there." He gestured to the refrigerator. The Galran nodded and slowly stood, sauntering into the kitchen and approaching the fridge. He opened the door, poking his head inside. There was nothing in there, nor the freezer except for some frozen biscuits.

  
Usually, Shiro and Allura's fridge would be overflowing with foods of all kind, but ever since the Galrans had been here, they'd eaten nearly everything in sight.  
The Galran pulled the contents out of the freezer, turning on his heel back into the living room, then approaching Shiro. He tossed the bag in his lap, and started to turn around when Shiro grunted, "You have to cook these, brightass."

  
"My, you have a way with words, don't you?" Brezmawl chuckled. "Very well... Untie his feet and remove him from the staircase."

  
The Galran that removed his gag from his mouth did just that, but kept his hands restrained. He put his claws in between Shiro's shoulder blades, giving him a harsh shove as they walked to the kitchen. The dark haired male stopped at the counter beside the stove, when the bag of frozen biscuits was thrown on the face of the counter beside him. He grunted when the Galran growled, "Well? Get on with it, then!"

  
"I need my hands." Shiro said in his smartass voice, glaring through the side of his eyes, but not looking directly at the Galran.

  
That was when the Galran had made a fatal mistake. These feline humanoids were too naive... With a grunt, he grasped the rope around Shiro's wrists and tugged at the knot, releasing its hold on the male's now bruised and cut wrists.

  
The moment Shiro's hands were free, he whipped around and slammed his fist into the Galran's nose with as much force as he could muster. He Galran fell to the floor, the force of the blow knocking him unconscious. Before the male fell, Shiro swooped down like a hawk and plucked the gun from his claws, lifting the muzzle up quickly as the others started to rush into the kitchen to see what all the ruckus was about. He swiftly shot them both in their shins, bringing them toppling to the ground in pain.

  
Brezmawl heard the gun fire and his ears twitched. Looked up with a smirk, slowly standing up and walking away from the couch he'd been sitting on. The two who had just been by Shiro and Allura's side headed into the kitchen to battle their free prisoner. Fortunately, they both had been shot in the thighs, which brought them to the ground as well. Shiro was not shooting to kill, but only to injure. He would only kill unless it was necessary.

  
Ignoring their cries of pain, he carefully made his way back into the living room. Once he turned the corner, he found Brezmawl standing in the middle of the living room, holding Allura in a headlock with a gun to her head. He growled, "If you take another step closer, or even make an attempt to save her from my grip, I'll scatter her brain matter all over your walls with a single bullet. Or if you shoot me, you'll shoot her as well. Hehe, how would it feel to clean that up? I bet it wouldn't be too pleasing." He cackled.

  
Allura struggled in his grip, of course, but after a moment, she stopped and stood deathly still, staring at Shiro with fear and worry. She managed to choke out, shaking her head frantically, "Don't... Just go, Shiro. The world is in danger. You have to help them save it."

  
"No." Shiro grunted. "I'm not going to leave you here."

  
"You have to!" Allura cried. "We're running out of time! You have to get out of here with or without me!"

  
"Running out of time?" Shiro choked. "What do you mean?"

  
"We rigged the place," Brezmawl explained. "We knew you'd escape one way or another, so when that happens, the house will blow up into splinters." He glanced down at the watch he stole from Shiro. He chuckled, "You have about 90 ticks before this place is obliterated."

  
"Please!" Allura sobbed, tears mixing in with the sweat on her face.

  
Shiro held the gun tight, unsure of what to do. His body was telling him to run, but over half of it was keeping him rooted in place and screaming at him to do something to save Allura.

  
He aimed down the sight of the gun, and the finger on the trigger started to bend towards him, slowly, and the gun fired with a loud crack, followed by the thump of a body hitting the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehehe >:3333


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a moment, Lance called, "...Keith?"  
> The coms had been shut down. Lance shot up from his seat, all the weight of exhaustion washed off him as a punch of panic to the gut stung at his nerves. "Keith?" Lance tried again. Still silence. He flicked his gaze down to the control panel, which was still with a silent blue glow. "Blue, what happened?" Lance asked with panic laced in his voice, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof kinda late sorry about that ive been spending my time trying to plan out some stuff for this story instead of uhh actually writing lol kms and UGH writing this is literally only going to get more difficult because season 5 is upon our tails and im trying to base this on the actual series  
> kinda short, again i apologize  
> please inform me if i made any mistakes

Keith awoke to the feeling of a pair of eyes staring at him. Reluctantly cracking open his eyes, he noticed it had grown dark outside, so he must have not slept long. But that was only the second thing he noticed; the first was Lance staring at him with a soft smile.

  
"What are you doing?" Keith mumbled sleepily, rubbing his face with the heel of his hand. "Is there something on my face?"

  
"No." Lance said simply, his smile growing a bit wider. "You snore."

  
Keith wrinkled his nose. "No I don't."

  
"Oh yes you do," Lance smirked, pulling out his phone and showing Keith the video he had taken of the red paladin sleeping. And sure enough, Keith was snoring.

  
"...So tell me why you decided to video and stare at me while I was sleeping?"

  
"I thought you were cute."

  
"Right... Very creepy." Keith sat up and stretched, his back popping as he twisted from side to side. Sleeping in a pilot seat wasn't the most comfortable thing. "Anyway, how long have we been sleeping?"

  
"...Around two hours, and I'd say we're nearly there." Lance said, looking out into the night sky that whisked past them, admiring the stars that hung in the sky and twinkled peacefully. He had to admit, he didn't sleep, really. All he did was stare at Keith and chuckle to himself the entire time, and would start a conversation with his lion every now and then, although it really wasn't like a conversation like you or me would have, but instead Lance talking and the lion responding with images and emotions, even small noises here and there.

  
Around the first hour Keith had fallen asleep, one of their conversations started with, " _So... How's it been, sleeping for months on end?_ "

  
The lion purred, and ran some images of fluffy clouds and twinkling stars, then a lonely owl that sat on a branch, which meant, "peaceful but lonely".

  
" _Hmph, if I would have known I'd have been there for you, you know?"_

  
Blue felt happy by his comment, but knew it was best that he hadn't, for it would look suspicious for him to be wondering around this old, crusty, abandoned building that was on the verge of collapsing.

  
" _I guess you're right... Anyway, what'd I really like to know is: how did you know we were in danger, and how long have you been trying to warn me, or us?_ "

  
She responded with a rumble. She couldn't really explain it, but she described it to be a gut feeling. She claimed to have reached the other lions, and they all were trying to contact the paladins, and fortunately, she was the only one who could reach anybody, and that was Lance. She'd tried to talk to him, but all she could manage to get through were small waves of worry and fright and even panic to him. That was what all the tingling in his neck and a sense of danger was from. She estimated around since the first few weeks they had been back on Earth and went their separate ways, that she was trying to tell him.

  
" _Oh... What... What kind of danger are we in, may I ask?_ "

  
With a flicker of unsureity sparking, she showed him what may happen. She showed him Galran ships descending into Earth's atmosphere, while they deployed many smaller ships to scatter and cover more ground. They were firing at buildings and blowing up factories, which caused the air to become toxic, and anyone who inhaled the contents, their lungs would practically shrivel and they would suffocate. At some point, the entire world's military was brought into the fight, and they found their ways to keep from breathing the horrible air, which was clogged with smoke and putrid smells that reeked of death and destruction. They fought their damnest, but eventually, half of the world had been wiped out by the fifth day, and there were still many ships coming their way, another entire wave of them. The ships started to drop off their soldiers, sending them on foot to take out a battlefield of soldiers that stood their ground, their guns' muzzles lifted towards the horrible felines. Either side charged at each other, yelling and screaming. Men were being torn apart and their armor shredded, and what lay under that were gushing claw wounds that ran blood like a river. A Galran leaped onto a man, baring his fangs and swooping his head in to the man's throat and-

  
" _OKAY! THAT'S ENOUGH! I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYMORE._ "

  
Blue hummed in apology, staying silent, allowing Lance to comprehend all the information she'd just given him.

  
" _Blue, what was all that?_ " Lance responded after a while. " _Was that our future?"_

  
She sniffed, and told him that this was all quite possibly going to happen if something wasn't done soon.

  
" _What are we supposed to do, then?_ "

  
She didn't respond. She stayed silent, for she could not give him an answer. In all truth, it mattered on the paladins. The world was in their hands.

  
Lance cut the connection between them, quite disturbed with their conversation.

  
"Lance?" Keith looked at the said person with a worried look. "You okay, there?"

  
Lance snapped himself out of his trance, glancing at Keith in surprise. "Uh! Yeah, yeah I'm fine, just thinking."

  
"About?" The red paladin asked, raising his brow. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

  
Lance opened his mouth, but then clamped it shut. He trailed his gaze off to the side, avoiding Keith's gaze. Keith inched a little closer, before sighing and scooting closer to him, one of his hands resting on Lance's thigh. He squished his cheek against the blue paladin's shoulder, and mumbled, "C'mon, Lancey, you know you can tell me anything."

  
Lance turned his blue gaze back to Keith at the nickname with a tiny smirk, but that quickly died down when he sighed. "Alright... Just... Don't freak out or anything, okay?"

  
"I can't promise you, but I'll try," Keith tried to joke, but dropped the playful mood when he realized that Lance was dead serious. "...Is it really that bad?"  
Lance didn't respond to that, but slowly started to explain how he'd been awake the entire time Keith was sleeping, and how he'd been talking to Blue while so (he left out the part about staring at Keith while he slept). He explained how the conversation escalated horrifyingly quick, taking a sickening turn for the worst. He explained everything in detail, his words being very vivid. He seemed so disturbed by this, he could barely talk about it without shuddering at certain parts.

  
After he was finished with that, he fell deathly silent, awaiting Keith's response. He didn't dare look at Keith's face, for he knew that it would only make him feel worse than he does now. He heard Keith suck in a quick breath before slowly exhaling. Calmly, the red paladin said, "That's... Horrific. But you can't let that image get to your nerves like you are now. That will affect you drastically. Try not to think about it too much, okay?" Keith wrapped an arm around Lance's shoulders, squeezing them reassuringly. "Try to stay positive. Like you said, we're gonna need all the positivity we can get, right?"

  
Lance smiled, his mood lightening up a little, taking the weight of dread and fear lifting off his shoulders. He suddenly turned his attention away from Keith for a moment, before saying, "She says we'll be there shortly..." A pause. "And that she knows where the black is, so she'll be taking us straight to him."  
Keith sighed in relief and was excited to get to the black lion, besides feeling like he could sleep for 1,000 years right about now. That two hours didn't really give him any energy, it only seemed to drain more of it. Yawning, he sat back again, and contemplated about the journey ahead of them. He sort of was disappointed that he wouldn't be riding in the same lion with Lance, but shook that thought away.

  
It was as Lance had said; not very long until they arrived, and got the black lion on his feet and in the air, flying along side the blue lion. As Lance sat in his empty seat, he started to feel a bit lonely, even if he could talk to his lion anytime he wanted. He wanted the warmth of Keith's body beside him again so badly, that he tried to snuggle against the seat, hugging himself, trying to emulate the feeling of holding Keith. That didn't work, obviously, so he just gave up and let himself go limp with a disappointed sigh.

  
"Hey, you lonely?" Keith's voice came in over the intercom thing. Lance had totally forgotten that they could talk through their lions without their helmets and armor.

  
He felt his heart flutter with delight at the sound of Keith's voice. "Can't say I'm not."

  
"I figured," Keith chuckled. "Hmph, I was getting pretty lonely myself."

  
"I can tell." Keith could nearly hear the smile in Lance's voice.

  
They fell silent, the idea of conversation quickly fading. They didn't know what to talk about. If they were together, and not talking over the intercoms, the silence that hung over them would be less awkward. Lance fiddled with the hem of his shirt, and jumped when Keith's voice cut through the thick silence. "Hey, since we've got all the lions we could for tonight, we might as well try and get some more sleep, since it will be a while before we get to the castle to drop off the black lion."

  
Lance liked the sound of sleep. When he thought of it, he realized how heavy his limbs felt and how his eyes burned slightly at the moment. But when he continued to think about it, he really didn't want to sleep without Keith. Just a few hours ago, he'd never felt so comfortable holding someone in his arms while the person slept soundly and peacefully. He wanted that same person at his side while they both slept. He longed for it. A small feeling of dread creeped up his spine as he thought about sleeping alone in his seat without the warmth of Keith's body.

  
"Uh, Lance?" Keith's voice snapped Lance from his thoughts. "You still there?"

  
"Oh!" Lance stuttered, shaking his head, further pulling himself out of his train of thought. "Y-Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking."

  
"...About?"

  
"Nothing, don't worry about it."

  
They both fell silent again.

  
"...You want me to sleep with you again, don't you?"

  
Lance nodded, but then remembered they were talking through voice, and not video nor, unfortuneatly, face to face. "Yes." He mumbled under his breath, rather embarrassed. He felt a small heat creep onto his cheeks and light up his ears. He averted his gaze to the floor, away from the figure of the black lion flying beside him. He knew Keith couldn't see him, and Lance couldn't see Keith, but he still somehow felt like Keith was staring at him with a smug grin at his confession.

  
"Figured." He snorted, falling silent once more.

  
After a moment, Lance called, "...Keith?"

  
The coms had been shut down. Lance shot up from his seat, all the weight of exhaustion washed off him as a punch of panic to the gut stung at his nerves. "Keith?" Lance tried again. Still silence. He flicked his gaze down to the control panel, which was still with a silent blue glow. "Blue, what happened?" Lance asked with panic laced in his voice, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

  
The lion mentally shrugged as she dug around to find the problem. She felt Lance's panic, which made her worry, too. After a moment, she found that everything seemed normal, the only thing odd was that the coms had been turned off. With a purr, she tried to calm him with relaxing images, and when that didn't work, she tried to reassure him. She explained that maybe Keith had just gone to bed and turned off the coms so Lance wouldn't bother him while he rest. Lance wasn't so convinced. He glanced over where the black lion had just been, and discovered that it had disappeared from sight.

  
Now Lance was really panicking.

  
"Where-" Lance stuttered, the pure panic rushing through his body disabled him of fluent speech. "Where did they go?!"

  
When Blue didn't answer, Lance slammed his hands on the control panel, shouting, "WHERE ARE THEY AT?"

  
She winced slightly, before scrambling to answer the panicking boy. She showed him that they were close by, but she wasn't exactly sure where. It was like how Lance could feel her presence when he was near her, that she could feel the other lions, but couldn't pin-point where they were. She only knew they were very near.

  
When Lance heard the thump of feet hitting metal, he gripped his jacket tightly. He didn't have any weapons to defend himself; he only had his fists and feet.  
When the cockpit doors slid open, Lance readied himself to lunge at the intruder, and froze and eased his stance.

  
It was only Keith.

  
Lance slumped to the ground, hand taking a fistful of his shirt at his chest. He let out a breath he wasn't aware that he'd been holding. "Jesus, Keith... You scared the shit out of me..."

  
Keith grinned, crossing his arms across his chest. "My bad."

  
Lance wrinkled his nose, and grumbled, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

  
"Maybe."

  
"You're an asshole, you know that?"

  
"Aw, Lance," Keith cooed, sauntering over to the blue paladin. He plopped down beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Did I really scare you that bad?"

  
"I thought something happened to you!" Lance cried. "When the coms cut, I panicked..."

  
Keith placed an apologetic, but cocky kiss on Lance's burning cheeks. "Did my boyfriend cry?"

  
"No," Lance scoffed, then grumbled, "Almost."

  
Keith chuckled, leaning against Lance, lying his head on the other male's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'll give you a heads up next time." He cooed again.  
"Like that'll happen," Lance rolled his eyes. "You know, next time this happens, and something really is wrong, I'm automatically going to assume you're being an asshole again and I won't come save your ass. Then you'll be in big fucking trouble."

  
"My," Keith cocked an eyebrow. "You have a mighty foul tongue tonight."

  
"YOU FUCKING SCARED ME," Lance frowned. "WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?"

  
Keith placed a gentle, sweet kiss on Lance's lips, hushing him for a moment, before pulling away and smirking, "If there was something really wrong, I would have let you know. I'm a vocal guy." He winked.

  
"Say wh-?"

  
The red paladin smacked Lance on the shoulder, interrupting Lance, starting to stand while saying, "C'mon, let's get some sleep. I'm here, so you should be able to sleep, now."

  
With a huff, Lance stood from his spot on the floor, and started to follow Keith to the seat, when he stopped in his tracks. He quickly turned around, and approached the control panel again. He kissed the tip of his fingers, before gently placing them on the panel, and mumbled, "Sorry for hitting you" then pat the spot and headed back to his seat, where Keith was already resting.

  
With a plop, Lance let blew up his cheeks to let out a puff of frustrated air. He rolled onto his side, facing Keith. He raised an eyebrow and said, "How'd you get in here, anyway?"

  
Keith smirked. "I turned off the coms and asked the lion to take me above Blue and drop me off there. He questioned me about it, and of course, I told him why; to come help your dumbass sleep. Surprisingly, he agreed to it and pulled off to the side and let me down from there. He's above us, right now, so no need to worry about him."

  
Lance hummed, and quickly averted his gaze away from Keith's when the male made eye contact, he even avoided touching him.

  
Keith seemed to notice this, before he said, "You don't have to avoid staring at me like a girl in high school who has a crush, and it's alright to touch me, you know..."

  
"Shush," Lance grumbled, furrowing his brow. "I know, Keith. You don't have to tell me that."

  
"Good, because I shouldn't have to."

  
Lance only rolled his eyes, not responding to the red paladin. He was still sort of mad about Keith scaring the absolute shit out of him earlier, but he couldn't stay mad long, of course. With a huff, Lance wrapped his arms around Keith, and he heard Keith say cockily, "That's better."

  
"Shut up and sleep," the blue paladin grunted, closing his eyes as he settled down, subconsciously snuggling further into the body next to him, wanting to feel the warmth radiating off of the boy. The heat flowing off Keith was so relaxing, that Lance soon slipped into a state in between asleep, and conscious. Soon after, he started dozing off, and after that, he finally let the gentle arms of sleep catch him and embrace him. As his mind snaked into unconsciousness, Keith stared at him all the while with a small smile cracked across his lips. Placing a peck on Lance's warm forehead, he nuzzled into his partner's chest, before he himself, fell asleep.

 

Lance was roused from his slumber by a gentle purr from his lion, which indicated that they had arrived. He reluctantly cracked open his eyes, only to awake to Keith staring at him. Keith blinked, rearing his head back slightly as Lance raised a lazy eyebrow. Keith stuttered, "Oh... Sorry, I wasn't-"

  
"Yes you were." Lance cut the red paladin off with a smirk. "Don't lie to me, now."

  
Keith rolled his eyes, turning on his side as a heat rose to his cheeks. Yes, he'd been staring at Lance while he was sleeping, but it wasn't for very long, for he woke from his sleep just a few minutes after Keith awoke.

  
When Lance glanced outside, he saw it was still dark out, but when he really looked, he could see the slight tint of an orange hue coloring the sky on the far horizon. It was just the wee hours of the morning, and they were already to be on their feet and at them. They had a long day ahead of them...

  
"C'mon, Keith," Lance said with a yawn, stretching as wide as he could, his arms straightened out to his sides. He was slightly sore from sleeping in that seat, which, as you already know, was not exactly made for people to sleep in. He twisted from side to side as his spine cracked, relieving some of the tension in it. "We gotta get started, unfortunately."

  
"Right," Keith said, yawning right after Lance had. He stood, stretching as well with a loud groan, standing to his tip toes.

  
As they approached the castle, Keith had gave Lance a quick peck on the lips before heading to climb back into the black lion. As they flew side by side, they finally descended to the ground with a gruesome rumble that rattled the earth below them. The lions let the two out, right at the castle's entrance. When they entered, they both smelled that familiar smell of the castle, which gave them a slap of nostalgia to the face. It reminded them of their struggles and adventures in space, fighting Zarkon and bonding with each other, training every morning... Or well, what they considered to be morning, there really was no way to tell time in space, especially by light, anyway.

  
Lance inhaled the scent, letting a small smile creep onto his lips. Keith looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, as well as a smirk, before turning back around and heading into the control room of the castle. When they entered, Coran, Hunk, and Pidge all stopped their chattering and averted their attention to the two boys as they walked in. Pidge cried out, rushing over to them and hugged them both tightly. "You made it! Did you get hurt?"

  
Keith pat her head and scoffed, "No, we made it okay. What about you?"

  
"Eh," Hunk spoke, rubbing his neck slightly. "We had a bit of trouble, but nothing to worry about, really."

  
"Uhm, excuse me," Coran cut in, his mustache twitching as he knit his brow together at the larger male. "Yes it sure it something to worry about." He twisted his head to look at Keith. "On our way here, we were ambushed by Galrans. We escaped unscathed, thankfully, but if any of those ships still remain, then they know where we are, now, and they could be right under our noses, for all we know."

  
Lance glanced at Keith uneasily, and saw that most of the color in Keith's cheeks had nearly disappeared. Lance looked to the green paladin, frowning, "Do you know if any escaped? Or if there's a possible chance any could have survived?"

  
"No, not that I know of, sorry."

  
"Then we'd better move quick." Keith gently pushed the small female aside, striding over to Coran. "Let's find the red lion, then we'll be on our way."

  
The space uncle nodded, turning his attention to the ship that was currently dim with the dull illumination of the blue lights in there, giving them just enough light to be able to see what they were doing; that and the faint slither of light resting along the horizon like lava, lighting up the clouds with various hues.

  
They were able to locate the red lion within no time, and they made haste to get to it. When Coran started the ship, Keith grabbed his shoulder and said, "What are you doing?"

  
"Well, starting the ship!" Coran said, raising a thick eyebrow at the red paladin. "What else would I be doing?"

  
"We don't need to take the castle just yet." Keith explained, removing his hand from Coran's shoulder. "It would look a little weird seeing a giant ship/castle fly overhead; it would raise suspicion, and we need to avoid that as much as we can..."

  
"But then what? Are you planning to bring the red lion back today? During the day? And don't we want to get to Shiro and Princess Allura as fast and soon as possible? What're we supposed to do while we wait for the cover of darkness? What if we're too late by then, if we do?"

  
Keith let his mouth hang open as he stared at Coran in surprise. Shaking his head, he spoke again. "No, no. We take all the lions with us, to be safe. We can leave the castle here, where it will remain out of sight."

  
"Why? What if I was right, and one of those ships from earlier know where the castle is hidden now, and could be lying in wait to strike at the right moment? And with no one here to protect it, it'll be obliterated, then we'll have no other way to get off the planet. Even if we did, we can't let this castle be compromised; it withholds information that only the Princess and I should know. And it's our most reliable source of travel, next to the lions, but I'm sure you all would like to sleep in a bed instead of the seats of your lions, in a cramped cockpit."

  
Everyone fell silent as they watched Coran snap at Keith. They stared in utter shock as they listened intently, doubts of their own starting to bubble up to their heads as they listened to the two.

  
"Plus, how do you plan on taking all the lions with you at once? There's only four of you, and I surely can't pilot one. Last time I tried, it didn't work out so well, as you know. What are your plans, O' Brilliant Keith?"

  
"I don't know, old man," Keith barked, his temper starting to rise rapidly. "What do you plan to do, since my ideas will only get us killed?"

  
"Only three of you go," Coran growled, propping himself with the palms of his hands on the control panel as he glared over his shoulder. "One should stay here with me and help keep the palace safe. Hunk, you will stay with me. Your lion seems to be able to take the most damage, and seems to be the toughest, we could use that. I hate to split you up like this, but you understand that it's for important reasons. Now begone, the rest of you take your lions to get the red lion. Keith, you can ride with Lance so you can pilot the red lion. Pidge will accompany you two."

  
They all nodded, not daring to protest against Coran; besides Keith, of course. He only glared for a moment, before he turned on his heel with a huff, trudging past the three that stood in his way. He was making his way back to the blue lion, Lance realized. Looking down at Pidge and over to Hunk in unsureity, he frowned and followed behind the storming Keith.

  
Coran's calm, upset voice then said, "Please be careful. I would hate to lose any of you."

  
They paused for a moment, glancing back to the seemingly upset Altean. They exchanged glances, before giving a determined nod to each other, and continued their trek to their lions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> brjkfkr jgjhefkfbmvkefbhcrgyt4fvfhdcx ftgynhuijfokvgbv


	16. im gonna jump off a cliff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> quick authors note

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so since this fanfiction is based entirely on the series of voltron, and with the new season out already n such its kinda wonked with the storyline to this fanfic  
> so im going to change a few things a bit, but not much, really  
> maybe ill just make it a really warped au smfh
> 
> i tried to finish this chapter before the season came out but i couldnt find the time to do so and i gave up  
> heres just what i had  
> im gonna change a few things, but for the most part, its going to stay the same  
> this is not an actual chapter, just what it may look like

When they left, they had suited up in their usual paladin clothes, carying their beyards with, just in case something happened on the way. Pidge stayed in her lion beside the blue, while the two boys sat in the blue, none of them saying a word, even over the intercoms. The three took great care to stay out of sight, remaining above the clouds.

  
The two boys sat in silence, unfortunately. It was quite awkward, sitting in the same seat, doing absolutely nothing, not having a conversation, but letting silence settle over them. Lance wasn't piloting, for the lion insisted that she fly them there herself... And there was a tone of that thought to it from her that made Lance raise an eyebrow. It felt like she knew what she was doing, and was pushing Lance to concentrate on calming his frustrated partner.

  
Frowning, Lance glanced over to Keith, who kept his gaze ahead and stared out the window, his brow knit together with his arms crossed across his chest. He bounced his leg on the floor, huffing as he did so.

  
"Okay, I'm getting tired of this," Lance finally blurted out. "What's wrong with you?"

  
"Nothing." Keith grunted simply.

  
"Nothing?" Lance echoed. "Nothing? It sure doesn't seem like nothing."

  
"Lay off," Keith twisted his head to glare at Lance, before returning it where it originally was.

  
Lance stared at him for a long while, before giving up when nothing came out of Keith. He really didn't feel like riling Keith up or starting anything with him. It surely would only ause him to get angrier. He huffed, rolling his eyes as he then averted his blue gaze out the window as well, tapping his finger impatiently on his cheek.

  
"Keith," Lance pressed on once more. "I know you're upset and all... But seriously, you need to calm down. I know how much hell we've been through the past few weeks, and I know it's starting to take its toll on you, but just... Try to keep from falling apart on us, okay?" He glanced back to see Keith staring at him with a raised eyebrow. He had the look that he was heeding Lance; that he was listening. Sighing, Lance turned back to his partner and gently grasped the pale hands in his tan ones. "Just hold on. When this is all over, we're going to be here for each other and help each other recover, okay? We're in this together, no matter what." He rubbed small circles on Keith's hand with his thumb, trying to calm the red paladin the best he could. "Together?"

  
Keith felt his face heat up slightly at the gesture, and glanced down at the hands gripping his, before quickly averting them away with a flustered frown. "Together."

  
"That's the spirit," Lance removed one of his tan hands from Keith's and pat the male on the shoulder, before placing a quick peck on his cheek. "This'll all be over before you know it."

  
"Let's hope so." The red paladin said with a small smile, tempted to return Lance's kiss but decided not to.

  
"I know so."

  
They fell silent, the only thing they were doing was staring at each other with a loving smile, just admiring each other, and enjoying each other's presence.  
"Uh," Pidge's voice cut through the silence. "I hate to interrupt whatever you were doing; if you were doing anything at all, that is, but I had a thought."

  
"Speak your mind, then." Keith grunted, sort of annoyed by her interruption, but he guessed he couldn't be. They were all in this together, and they needed to share their thoughts with one another. That was part of working as a team.

  
"Okay so," Pidge began, sucking in a long breath before starting to voice her thought, "A gravitational pull exists between the mass of a planet, the gas molecules, and particles in its atmosphere. The force of the gravity pulls the molecules and particles toward the center of its body. The weight of the atmosphere pushing down on itself and on the surface of the planet creates atmospheric pressure, right? Simple science, guys. We have several layers of gas molecules on our planet, and overall our atmosphere weighs about 5.5 to 6 quadrillion tons, which is nearly one millionth of Earth's mass. We're able to withstand such pressure, for we've evolved that way to be able to live on this planet, of course. But the Galrans... They're an outside race that is unknown to Earth; not a resident of it. And if that's so, this means that they aren't as evolved as we are. So why aren't they crushed by the immense amount of pressure by our atmosphere? And plus, our lungs were made to breathe the heavy gas of air, so how are they breathing it? Even if they could withstand the pressure of the atmosphere, what would happen to their lungs? Wouldn't they ultimately collapse? Why aren't they falling to their knees, crushed like a bug? I don't know what it was like on their home planet, maybe their planet had a much heavier atmosphere than ours, so they might be able to withstand it. But even then, if the atmosphere is lighter here than there, why are they not eventually dying because of it? Their bodies aren't adapted to live on this planet." Pidge took a quick breath, before starting to speak again in a slightly fearful tone. "Unless... They've been here before..."

  
Keith felt the color drain from his face, before he said, "...Mom. She was Galran. She's been here, for sure."

  
"...Are you sure?" Lance said, looking at him worriedly, rather shaken up my Pidge's theory. "How do you know it wasn't your dad that met her somewhere else, and not here?"

  
"I just do," Keith frowned. "It's something I can't explain, I just know it... It's... A gut feeling, you know?"

  
They all remained silent for a moment, before Keith spoke again. "She must have found some way to be able to withstand the pressure while she stayed here, which probably allowed her body to adapt. And after she had me, it's highly possible she ran off and left me for the wolves with my dad, and went and had more children with another Galran, with the evolved genes she accomplished during her stay... My own mother was planning to destroy Earth. She was probably only getting under my father's skin just for the benefit of her race... So I'm an accident. She never loved me. I wasn't meant to happen, and I've caused this. If I hadn't had been born, I doubt any of this would be happening."

  
Lance stared at him in shock, and the coms stayed deathly quiet.

  
"Keith-" Lance started, but was interrupted by the addressed person.

  
"But I'm not going to be the accident I was born as," Keith growled, tapping his foot on the ground, trying to keep his temper. "I'm going to be much more, and I'll show her that I was no accident. She'll regret everything she did, and she'll wish she would have stayed to love me and my father; to know that she raised an actual successful child." He rose in his seat slightly, determination spreading across his face. "She will not win this, nor will they in general... I- _We_ will take whatever it takes to defeat them and put them to their knees."

  
Lance felt the corners of his mouth turn upward, and he could tell by Pidge's silence that she was just as surprised as he was. Now they were fired up, even if there wasn't much action going on at the moment, they felt they were confident and ready for the battle to come, now, if it ever escalated that far.

  
Keith turned to Lance with a smirk, and directed his speech to his two companions. "Let's go get that lion, now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, this is not an actual chapter, but just what the next chapter MIGHT look like


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There's someone here," the red paladin stuck his nose in the air, sniffing it. "And by the smell of it, they're not who we want to run into."  
> Lance felt a rush of dread flow through his veins and weigh down his limbs. He didn't like the sound of that. His hand hovered over the butt of his gun, ready to yank it out if needed. Before he knew it, he could hear the faint crunching of leaves under feet, and some chatting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhh hi ahahsbdne  
> uh in this chapter there might be a hint of rape but uh it dont get too intense
> 
> idk how to put warnings on chapters idek if u can do that but if u can yall gotta tell my dumbass how ahahahahah

When they left, they had suited up in their usual paladin clothes, carrying their bayards with, just in case something happened on the way. Pidge stayed in her lion beside the blue, while the two boys sat in the blue, none of them saying a word, even over the intercoms. The three took great care to stay out of sight, remaining above the clouds.

  
The two boys sat in silence, unfortunately. It was quite awkward, sitting in the same seat, doing absolutely nothing, not having a conversation, but letting silence settle over them. Lance wasn't piloting, for the lion insisted that she fly them there herself... And there was a tone of that thought to it from her that made Lance raise an eyebrow. It felt like she knew what she was doing, and was pushing Lance to concentrate on calming his frustrated partner.

  
Frowning, Lance glanced over to Keith, who kept his gaze ahead and stared out the window, his brow knit together with his arms crossed across his chest. He bounced his leg on the floor, huffing as he did so.

  
"Okay, I'm getting tired of this," Lance finally blurted out. "What's wrong with you?"

  
"Nothing." Keith grunted simply.

  
"Nothing?" Lance echoed. "Nothing? It sure doesn't seem like nothing."

  
"Lay off," Keith twisted his head to glare at Lance, before returning it where it originally was.

  
Lance stared at him for a long while, before giving up when nothing came out of Keith. He really didn't feel like riling Keith up or starting anything with him. It surely would only cause him to get angrier. He huffed, rolling his eyes as he then averted his blue gaze out the window as well, tapping his finger impatiently on his cheek.

  
"Keith," Lance pressed on once more. "I know you're upset and all... But seriously, you need to calm down. I know how much hell we've been through the past few weeks, and I know it's starting to take its toll on you, but just... Try to keep from falling apart on us, okay?" He glanced back to see Keith staring at him with a raised eyebrow. He had the look that he was heeding Lance; that he was listening. Sighing, Lance turned back to his partner and gently grasped the pale hands in his tan ones. "Just hold on. When this is all over, we're going to be here for each other and help each other recover, okay? We're in this together, no matter what." He rubbed small circles on Keith's hand with his thumb, trying to calm the red paladin the best he could. "Together?"

  
Keith felt his face heat up slightly at the gesture, and glanced down at the hands gripping his, before quickly averting them away with a flustered frown. "Together."

  
"That's the spirit," Lance removed one of his tan hands from Keith's and pat the male on the shoulder, before placing a quick peck on his cheek. "This'll all be over before you know it."

  
"Let's hope so." The red paladin said with a small smile, tempted to return Lance's kiss but decided not to.

  
"I know so."

  
They fell silent, the only thing they were doing was staring at each other with a loving smile, just admiring each other, and enjoying each other's presence.  
"Uh," Pidge's voice cut through the silence. "I hate to interrupt whatever you were doing; if you were doing anything at all, that is, but I had a thought."

  
"Speak your mind, then." Keith grunted, sort of annoyed by her interruption, but he guessed he couldn't be. They were all in this together, and they needed to share their thoughts with one another. That was part of working as a team.

  
"Okay so," Pidge began, sucking in a long breath before starting to voice her thought, "A gravitational pull exists between the mass of a planet, the gas molecules, and particles in its atmosphere. The force of the gravity pulls the molecules and particles toward the center of its body. The weight of the atmosphere pushing down on itself and on the surface of the planet creates atmospheric pressure, right? Simple science, guys. We have several layers of gas molecules on our planet, and overall our atmosphere weighs about 5.5 to 6 quadrillion tons, which is nearly one millionth of Earth's mass. We're able to withstand such pressure, for we've evolved that way to be able to live on this planet, of course. But the Galrans... They're an outside race that is unknown to Earth; not a resident of it. And if that's so, this means that they aren't as evolved as we are. So why aren't they crushed by the immense amount of pressure by our atmosphere? And plus, our lungs were made to breathe the heavy gas of air, so how are they breathing it? Even if they could withstand the pressure of the atmosphere, what would happen to their lungs? Wouldn't they ultimately collapse? Why aren't they falling to their knees, crushed like a bug? I don't know what it was like on their home planet, maybe their planet had a much heavier atmosphere than ours, so they might be able to withstand it. But even then, if the atmosphere is lighter here than there, why are they not eventually dying because of it? Their bodies aren't adapted to live on this planet." Pidge took a quick breath, before starting to speak again in a slightly fearful tone. "Unless... They've been here before..."

  
Keith felt the color drain from his face, before he said, "...Mom. She was Galran. She's been here, for sure."

  
"...Are you sure?" Lance said, looking at him worriedly, rather shaken up my Pidge's theory. "How do you know it wasn't your dad that met her somewhere else, and not here?"

  
"I just do," Keith frowned. "It's something I can't explain, I just know it... It's... A gut feeling, you know?"

  
They all remained silent for a moment, before Keith spoke again. "She must have found some way to be able to withstand the pressure while she stayed here, which probably allowed her body to adapt. And after she had me, it's highly possible she ran off and left me for the wolves with my dad, and went and had more children with another Galran, with the evolved genes she accomplished during her stay... I don't know, she didn't seem like the type to do such a thing when I met her. But then again, Galrans are unpredictable in their actions, sometimes."

  
"You're the one to talk," they heard Pidge mumble under her breath with a snort.

  
"Is this something we should probably worry about?" Lance asked worriedly.

  
Before Keith could respond, Pidge butt in. "Of course it is! If they're planning to come here and destroy and/or take over this planet and the earth has no natural defenses against them, it'll be entirely up to us to drive them away."

  
"Wait," Keith had a sudden thought that lifted his hopes slightly. "Pidge, what about our diseases? Do you think they've outwit that, too?"

  
"It's possible," Pidge mumbled. "It all depends on how long your mother stayed here... It must have been a while, hence she had the time for her body to adpat to our atmosphere, and birth you; so yes, there is a high chance that they're immune to our diseases."

  
Keith cursed under his breath, glaring at the ground. He cursed himself, he cursed his mother, he cursed the Galran empire, he cursed everything that has been happening. He hated it. He hated this. He hated them. He hated everything; an exception for his fellow paladins, of course. He glanced up at Lance, and softened his gaze as he caught the blue paladin's concerned look. He gently took Lance's hand in his, rubbing his thumb across the skin reassuringly.

  
"Even if the earth can't defend itself," Keith said slowly. "We are going to do our best to defend it. Whatever it takes, right?" He brought Lance's tan hand up to his lips, before placing a lingering kiss on the skin. "Together?"

  
"Together." Lance flushed at the gesture, glancing to the ground awkwardly with a small smile.

  
"Alright, you guys, stop being lovey-dovey over there." Pidge snorted. "We'll be there in no time, so don't get too comfortable."

  
Lance scoot the seat closer to the control panel, before activating the thrusters on his lion, leading them on faster. Pidge caught on quick, and followed his actions soon after.

 

During the rest of their ride, they remained silent, for the most part. Keith and Lance would exchange a conversation every once in a while, but they never lasted long. Lance was lying in the seat, and started up when he felt Keith jerk in alarm beside him. He looked at the red paladin with a concerned look, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

  
Keith slowly reached his hand to the back on his neck, rubbing it with his fingers. "I feel like I was just stung on the nape of my neck."

  
"Oh, that's probably Red." Lance smiled, his worried stature relaxing. "She must be near, then." He switched the coms on and said, "Pidge, we need to start coming down."

  
"Alright."

  
Descending to the ground they made sure they landed somewhere out of sight from others. They landed in a thick forest, and was sure to make the lions lie down, to better conceal them. You never could be too careful.

  
"Well?" Lance said behind Keith as he adjusted his gun at his hip, Pidge trailing up behind the blue paladin. "Where is she directing you?"

  
Keith glanced around for a moment, before starting forward through the grass. Pidge and Lance glanced at each other, before following close on Keith's tail. Lance could feel the prickle, too, for he had a bond with the lion, of course. He quickly caught up with Keith, walking side by side, and poor Pidge being their tail.

  
Lance glanced at Keith, and saw that he was wincing every so often, which he guessed was the stinging. He was starting to feel it also, but it didn't seem as bad as Keith's. Why was that?

  
Keith came to a startling halt, flinging an arm in front of Lance. The sudden stop caused Pidge to bump into the back of Lance. She stepped back and peeked around the taller males. "What is it?" she whispered to Lance.

  
"I dunno," Lance whispered back. "But it doesn't seem good."

  
Keith shushed them, before slowly removing his hand from Lance's chest, and creeping to a nearby tree stealthily. He gestured for them to get down with his hand, and they obeyed, crouching low to the ground, which was littered with dead leaves and twigs. He kept his hand in the air for a number of seconds, before making a "come hither" motion. "Pidge, come here... Lance," Keith pointed to a large boulder a few feet across from them. "Hide behind that rock."

  
"What's going on?" Lance asked, as he snaked his way to the rock, planting his shoulder on the side of it.

  
"There's someone here," the red paladin stuck his nose in the air, sniffing it. "And by the smell of it, they're not who we want to run into."

  
Lance felt a rush of dread flow through his veins and weigh down his limbs. He didn't like the sound of that. His hand hovered over the butt of his gun, ready to yank it out if needed. Before he knew it, he could hear the faint crunching of leaves under feet, and some chatting. He strained his ears, but whatever they were saying he couldn't catch onto. He looked to Keith, who was listening intently, stiffer than the tree beside him. Pidge sat behind him, crouched very low to the ground, to the point of almost lying in it.

  
Keith leaned forward slightly, listening to what they were saying: "Bah, there's no way."

  
"They think they're gonna to get away with all their lions. Hehe, I'd like to see them try and get through us with this one. Ooh, I bet you I can get a good shot and shoot one of the bastards in the head!"

  
"Your shooting skills are horrid."

  
Keith heard a snort of irritation. "You have no room to talk. If I get a single shot outta one of 'em, you owe me twenty coins."

  
"I'm not giving you squat. We're not here to gamble, anyways, we're on patrol."

  
"Excuse me, sir, yes you sure are. You bet your ass you're givin' me something. How else do you think Imma feed my family?"

  
"Just shut up, will you? You're much more irritating than I expected..."

  
They rambled on and on, until they got closer, and one of them shushed the other with his sniffing, before exclaiming, "Hwoo-wee! Do you smell that, Ank?"  
This so called "Ank" inhaled sharply, before chuckling evilly. "Oh yes, I do. I thought I was going crazy at first, but I guess it's too strong to be imagined." He sniffed the air again. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

  
"Hm, I dunno, Ank. It smells male... Do you really wanna go for that?"

  
"Ooh yeah. He reeks of it." Ank paused to sniff the air again. "Smells like he's still got a bit of residue from it left. Guess he didn't quite get rid of it, eh? Maybe his cycles are irregular, because of that."

  
Keith felt panic shoot through his body. There was no way they were talking about him. He felt a heat rush to his face, and shuffled uncomfortably with a frown. And what were they talking about?; him having a bit of residue left? He was sure he had been satisfied.

  
"Are you wantin' to go check it out?"

  
"Of course, dimwit. I wouldn't be talking about it if I didn't. You're such an idiot, Brak."

  
"Let's go, then..." Brak huffed, shuffling through the leaves behind Ank.

  
Keith averted his gaze to Lance, and gestured for him to fall back, before turning to Pidge and doing the same. They obeyed, rather hesitantly, however.  
Keith was going to use himself as bait, and to direct their attention away from Lance and Pidge. He was hoping this would work. When he got a whiff of what he thought was Ank, he could smell the dominance on him, and he'd never felt so uncomfortable and weak in someone else's presence before. He pushed his back flush against the tree, bringing his knee up slightly, while his other leg slumped lazily to the side. He propped his elbow on his knee: he was trying to get in a position that would surely completely distract them from their surroundings. While his other hand supported him on the ground, he curled his fingers and crushed a fistful a leaves with a rush of anxiety.

  
"Well, well," he heard Ank say from beside him. Pretending to be surprised, Keith snapped his head up to look at the gruffy looking Galran and scooted back frantically. Now, the scurrying away part wasn't on purpose. Ank's overwhelming demeanor of dominance frightened him, and he didn't like it. "Didn't expect a smell like that to come from a puny human."

  
"Uh, say, Ank?" Brak stuttered, glancing down at Keith with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't that Altean armor he's wearing?"

  
Ank glanced down, his awful yellow eyes trailing over Keith's body with a smirk, which hid something behind it; something evil. "You're quite observant, Brak. I wouldn't have noticed until I stripped it off of him. Say," Ank squat to the ground, resting his arms on his knees. "What are you, exactly? You're getting me all kind of confused, here. You smell like a Galran, yet you're a human, but you wear Altean armor." He practically stuck his face in Keith's, grinning.

  
Keith could feel that itch starting to approach on his ears and back. He wanted to run away, but he was frozen in place by Ank's aura. All he could do was wait for Lance and Pidge to make their move at the right moment. He was putting his full trust in them right now.

  
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue, boy?" Ank took his clawed hand and flicked Keith's chin with it, teasing him with a small growl. "You don't know how to take care of yourself, do you? Heh, do you need someone to take care of that for you?"

  
Keith was starting to become very uncomfortable. He didn't like the way that Ank was looking at him, or the way that Brak was staring in Lance's and Pidge's direction. He felt his lungs nearly collapse when Brak took a step in their direction, and without thinking, he blurted, "Yes, actually... I could use some help, since I'm too stupid to tend to myself. And having two doesn't sound so bad."

  
He caught Brak's attention, thankfully, and the Galran trudged back over to the scene.

  
"Ooh, eager, are we?" Ank hummed, taking his index finger and thumb to lift Keith's chin, tilting his head up slightly to expose his neck. "Brak, you care to join? If not, I'll take him myself."

  
Brak flushed, and shook his head rather reluctantly, "No, boss. I'm doin' okay right here."

  
"As you wish." Ank shrugged, before returning to his smug grin as he lowered his lips to Keith's neck, letting his hot, horrible breath fan across the skin. The red paladin felt sharp, unpleasureable prickles run down his spine as he shuddered in disgust. He wanted to run, to push the Galran away, but he felt like he was pinned down by bricks. He glue his eyes shut tightly, wincing as he listened to Ank's deep voice vibrate in his ear, "How do you want it, kitten? I'll be glad to oblige." When he leaned in, his tongue slipping out from in between his horrible teeth, just before it made contact with Keith's skin, Keith heard the shuffle of leaves, and Brak exclaim in alarm.

  
"Hey! You! Get out of here, this is none of your business!" The Galran shouted, stepping forward slightly.

  
This caused Ank to pull away for a moment, thankfully, and Keith took the moment to let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

  
_C'mon, Lance, Pidge... Now would be a good time to do something!_

  
They all stood silent for a moment, but Ank was in a hurry to return back to his business. Directing his attention back to Keith, Ank rumbled, "Anyways..." He leaned in once more, and quickly took advantage of the time he had to lick from Keith's collarbone, all the way up his cheek. Keith felt a bit of bile build up in his mouth, but he swallowed it down with a wince. When Ank pulled away, he smirked with his teeth, before taking his hand and petting Keith's head and rubbing behind his ears. "I know what you are, and who you are, kitten, but don't think you're going to get out of this; plus, I know you're only doing this to distract me from your little buddies over there." He nodded to the shrubs where Pidge and Lance were hiding. "You're doing a good job, I'll tell you that. But if you allow me to do this, I won't alarm anyone of your presence here, and we'll leave your friends be. I'll even take you to what you're looking for. And don't worry, I'll make it quick." He winked.

  
Keith hesitated before answering. He pulled his head away from Ank's grip, only to glare at him with his nose wrinkled, "I'd rather not." He started to stand, but was brought back down to the ground as Ank grabbed him by the leg, yanking it out from under him with a growl.

  
He dragged Keith by his legs under his bulking form, and with a purr, he rumbled, "I told you not to think you're going to get out of this." He leaned in to bite at Keith's ear, which the red paladin responded to by trying to wriggle out from under his captor. "I'm going to fuck your cute little ass until you can't breathe, kitten, regardless if you like it or not."

  
With a frustrated huff, the red paladin managed to twist himself onto his back, planting his hands firmly on the Galran's broad shoulders, pushing him away. With a grunt, he tries to adjust his legs to where Ank wasn't in between them. He dug his knees into Ank's stomach, trying to get him to move away. But when his leg slips downtown, he cringes. How could this possibly get any worse?

  
He heard Ank chuckle deeply in his throat, which caused him to shiver. He would be throwing punches and kicks at this point, or maybe even way before, but he knew it was a terribly bad idea. It would put Lance and Pidge's safety in jeopardy, as well as his. Sighing, he gave up, but as soon as Ank started to lean down, his actions looking to be to bite him, he heard Brak grunt and topple to the ground with a thump. This caused Ank to jerk his head back with a rumble in his throat. He bared his teeth, glancing around in alarm.

  
Finally, he was distracted. Keith took advantage of this opportunity, and kneed Ank in the stomach as hard as he could, then elbowed him in the temple. The male Galran snapped his head to glare at Keith with a wince, then grabbed Keith harshly by the wrists, and started to lean in again, before he saw someone jump down from the treetop and wrap a rope around the Galran's throat, yanking him back away from Keith.

  
It was Lance, pulling back on a rope around Ank's throat hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> weugh im having a lil trouble tryna pace all this so im just randomly throwing problems galore for them lm aO kms
> 
> as always please inform me of any booboos i made


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey there, kitten," Ank purred, leaning his head against the tree as he gazed at Keith. "I sure did miss you."
> 
> When he saw Lance flinch and start to rise from his spot on the ground, Keith grunted, "Ignore him. He's talking bullshit, is all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii this chapter is more action so :^))  
> also sorry for it being short?? it looked longer than i thought

A choked cry broke from the Galran's throat as he fell back onto the ground, landing on top of Lance. Lance grunted at the weight landing on top of him as he continued to attempt to strangle Ank, holding him down to give Keith enough time to scurry away; and Keith took that opportunity without hesitation. He moved away from the vulnerable spot he sat in, only to crawl over onto Ank, sitting on his torso before raising his fist and placed a blow on the Galran's nose. It must have been quite a hard hit, for the moment Keith's hand made contact with Ank's face, the male went limp, and lied on the ground, deathly still, except for the small puffs of air emitting from his lungs.

  
"Tie him up, Lance." Keith ordered, slowly standing up. "I'm gonna help Pidge real quick."

  
He quickly strode over to the two wrestling on the forest ground, Brak seemingly overpowering Pidge. Keith picked up his pace into a short sprint, and as he approached the two, he reared back his leg and kicked the Galran in the gut. Brak seemed more persistent than Ank, and didn't seem like he wasn't going down without a fight. He recovered from the blow rather quickly, and directed his attention to Keith with a snarl. Keith gestured for Pidge to go back with Lance to help him tie Ank to the tree, and she hesitantly obeyed.

  
Brak spat a bit of blood from his mouth, before wiping it with the back of his hand. He lunged at the red paladin with an alarming speed, but Keith was quicker. He ducked and rolled out of the way, resulting in the opponent to eat a face full of dead leaves, twigs and dirt and who knows what else. Keith could feel that itch crawling across his skin like a million ants, but he had to ignore it.

  
Before a second thought, he leaped at Brak when the Galran stood, the sound of their bodies colliding harshly against each other sounded with a dull thump as he tackled Brak to the ground. They rolled a few times, before coming to a stop, Brak pinning Keith to the ground with his hands to the smaller male's shoulders. The Galran sucked in a quick breath when Keith had completely changed; he'd grown ears, which were flicked back in anger, his eyes seemed to glow yellow, and of course, he was covered from head to toe in purple fur, and his finger nails had grown into razor claws.

  
Brak was in real trouble, now.

  
With a hiss, Keith threw a punch to Brak's cheek, knocking him off to the side and off of him. He rolled onto his feet, steadying his stance when he wobbled a bit from the dizziness from all the action of rolling and the such. He kept his fists in his face, and his legs spread evenly apart. Brak had no hesitation from regaining his composure and recovering from the blow. He stood once more, and this time, spit out a bloody tooth.

  
Keith smirked. So far, he didn't have a single scratch on him. "Come at me, big boy." He teased, gesturing for Brak to make his move, which would be his last.  
Brak returned the smirk, before running at Keith with a snarl. Once he was close enough, Keith ducked out of the way and rolled behind the Galran, where the ground was slightly slanted, going up a small hill. This gave him an advantage that would promise his victory.

  
The Galran's steps stuttered down the hill a bit, catching him off guard. When the turned around, Keith was already in the air, with his foot swinging from the side and onto his temple. It all happened too fast.

  
Keith kicked with all his might, making sure he delivered a devastating blow to Brak's head. Once his foot came around after he did his special little butterfly kick, and made contact with his head, the red paladin knew this fight was over. When his feet came back down to the safety of the ground, he could feel a small throb in his foot. Oh yeah, surely Brak was out cold, and out cold he was. Panting, he leaned down to grasp the unconscious Galran's wrists and drag him back to Pidge and Lance, and tie Brak up with Ank.

  
Once he reached his destination from the slope of the hill, he dropped Brak's wrists and let them flop lifelessly to the ground, as he let his feet slip out from under him to sit with a huff. He wanted to lean against the tree, but he didn't want to be anywhere near that bastard, Ank.

  
"Keith?" The red paladin heard Lance ask worriedly. "You okay?"

  
He nodded, twisting his head to smile at Lance reassuringly. "I'm okay."

  
"Yeah, and someone has been awake the entire time you two were wrestling over there," Pidge remarked with a sneer towards the described person. Ank was awake, although he still looked slightly dazed from the blow. His nose looked swollen and bruised, and it had a small trickle of blood running from one of his nostrils. But nonetheless, he grinned his shit eating grin at Keith, which he responded to with a growl in his throat.

  
"Hey there, kitten," Ank purred, leaning his head against the tree as he gazed at Keith. "I sure did miss you."

  
When he saw Lance flinch and start to rise from his spot on the ground, Keith grunted, "Ignore him. He's talking bullshit, is all."

  
"You were amazing, you know that?" The Galran continued. "I've never seen a Galran move that beautifully... Man, you really have some potential. Potential in bed, I mean. I should have gotten my hands on you sooner before your little bastards decided to drop in and ruin it." He poked out his bottom lip and pouted, before shooting a glare at the blue and green paladin.

  
Lance was ready to knock him back out again, and it looked like Pidge was getting tired of his rambling as well. She sighed, before saying, "We need to tie the other one up before he wakes up, before we forget."

  
"Oh," Keith chuckled. "He won't be waking up for a while." He gently kicked Brak's arm to prove his point. He looked about as dead as a fat cat, besides the shallow breathing. He was probably suffering from a concussion, but there was nothing Keith could or wanted to do about it. His foot still had a noticeable ache remaining from the kick. He must have kicked harder than he thought for. "You," Keith pointed his pointy claw at Ank as he flicked his ears back. Ank tilted his head, humming in his throat in response. "When you get free, if you ever do, take him to get medical help. He could be in worse condition than he looks. He could have a concussion... And you should probably get checked too. I've probably broken your nose."

  
"We're not going to..." Lance trailed off, before finishing his sentence. "Kill them?"

  
Keith seemed slightly taken aback by this question. Before he could answer, Ank cooed, "Aww, the kitten cares about us... How sweet."

  
"No, Lance. We're not going to kill them." Keith ignored Ank, tuning him out of the conversation. "I joined Voltron not only because I was forced to, but to stop killing people and others."

  
"But joining Voltron only resulted in more deaths, anyways." Pidge explained, raising an eyebrow. "Whether you would believe me or not, we've killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Galrans and other creatures. Keith, I hate to say it, but I'm on Lance's side. I think we should get rid of them, so they don't inform anyone else that we were here, and them end up finding our hiding spots, or worse. They have too much information to their ears, already, and I think we should get rid of that."

  
"It's too dangerous," Lance said softly, frowning. "We can't take the risk of letting them go."

  
"...Fine." Keith growled. "But if we're killing them, I'm not taking part in it. If you say we should, then maybe you have the balls to do it, then. Go on, shoot them, I'm waiting."

  
Everyone conscious froze, staring at Keith with wide eyes.

  
"Well?" Keith tilted his head. "Are you going to shoot them or not? Or are you going to keep gawking like a fish?" When no one answered him, he grunted, "That's exactly what I thought. Don't tell me we should kill someone ever again, if you aren't willing to do it yourself. I know carrying the burden of thousands of deaths on your hands weighs down, but pointing a gun to someone defenseless's head and pulling the trigger will haunt you for the rest of your life. Seeing someone die is worse than watching ships explode, if you ask me. Because you experience it, up close, and it makes me sick to think about doing such a thing to someone. I say let them sit here until someone finds them, or until they sit here and starve to death. At least we're giving them a chance."

  
Lance and Pidge stared at the ground in embarrassment, avoiding Keith's gaze. Even Ank seemed unsettled by the conversation, and he wasn't even participating in it. With a sigh, Keith stood and dragged Brak's limp body closer to the tree, before sitting him up and leaning him against the trunk of the tree. As he tied him in tightly, he noticed his head was leaning out in the open. The tree wasn't too awful big, but they needed to keep these two concealed for as long as possible; every second counts. He gently put his hand to Brak's temple, before cautiously tilting it towards Ank, resting his head on the conscious Galran's shoulder. When Ank started to protest, Keith growled, "Don't complain, or I really will take their advice and kill you."

  
Ank shut his trap immediately, frowning.

  
"Well, we've wasted enough time already," Keith said as he stood, finishing tying up the unconscious Galran. "We'd better move."

  
The other two nodded, standing to their feet as well, following on Keith's heels as they quietly strode away. When Keith stopped, he stopped Lance and Pidge in their steps. The two exchanged confused glanes, before looking back to Keith. Keith twisted his head slightly to smirk at Ank. "I admire your persistence, Ank," He quirked. He noticed Ank return the smirk, but it falters the moment Keith grabs Lance by his hips and yanks him down onto his lips, crashing them together. Lance is slightly taken aback and surprised, feeling a heat rush up his face, and before he had time to recover from the shock and return the kiss, Keith pulled away and winked, "But I have someone else in mind." And after that, he returned to their trek on the retrieving the red lion.

  
After Lance blinked himself out of his flustered state, he quickly caught up with the duo walking away. He trot up to Keith, then whispered rather loudly to him, "Why did you let him touch you like that? If I were there, he would have been far from unconscious; he would have been dead," Lance grumbled under his breath, "Touchin' my man..."

  
Keith chuckled at Lance's jealousy. "You're just jealous because you can't touch me like that." When Lance didn't say anything, and only gave him a betrayed look, he cleared hs throat, and became more serious. "I let him because I valued you and Pidge's safety." That caught both Pidge and Lance's attention. "I knew he would hurt you... Us, if I didn't do or let him do what he said. You both are skilled, but I knew good and well the two of those Galrans against you two... They would surely overpower you. I just used myself as bait. I distracted him, to give you two time to do what you needed, and it seems I gave you that time. We're walking out of there unscathed, right?" When Pidge pointed to a couple of scratches on her cheek, Keith raised an eyebrow. "Well, for the most part."

  
Lance picked up his pace a little, only to step in Keith's path. Keith came to a halt before he ran into the slightly taller male. He raised a confused eyebrow at him, which was wiped from his face when Lance cupped his chin and brought him into a rather rough kiss. "Thank you, then." He mumbled against Keith's lips.

  
"You're welcome," Keith hummed against the skin of Lance's lips, a pleased smile gracing his face as his eyes fluttered closed and ears flicking back.

  
"Aaaaalright, love birds," Pidge rolled her eyes as she looked back at them with a soft smile. "I'm glad you're showing each other affection and all, but we need to move out of here if we want to get that lion and then to Shiro and Allura in time today."

  
When Lance finally pulled away, he grinned and placed a lingering peck on the corner of Keith's mouth, before turning back to Pidge and saying, "You're right. We should go."

  
Keith stood in his spot, awestruck, but quickly shook himself from his little Lance Trance with a small smile. Pidge cocked an eyebrow when Keith caught up with their group, before the two boys exchanged smirks. "Okay guys, if you're gonna be lovey-dovey with each other, you'd better involve me." She grinned. "I'm feeling a little left out, here."

  
Their faces immediately heated up as they glanced away from each other, embarrassed. Pidge cackled. "I'm kidding, jeez."

  
"We know," Keith cleared his throat awkwardly.

 

Successfully sneaking around the patrol, although with some difficulties, due to Keith's... Smell. The red paladin would grumble and shuffle with irritation when he heard the patrol groups whistle and cat-call when they smelled him. And still being in his Galran state only made it worse and more difficult.

  
At one point, they were backed into a corner they couldn't get out of. Keith left the duo behind again, which Lance greatly protested against, but Keith reassured him quickly. He rolled in the leaves and dragged his tail behind him, sure to leave a scent trail that would hopefully lead them away.

  
Sitting behind another tree, which was directly behind the red lion, Keith still had some debris stuck in his fur from rolling on the ground. He would flinch now and then when he would feel the ferocious tingling at his neck. It felt like he was being pinched, at this point. He reached his hand up and palmed at the nape of his neck, while glaring at Red with his nose wrinkled, and he thought hard and harshly, _You can stop that now. I'm right behind you, you dick._

  
She seemed to chuckle smugly at him.

  
"Are you okay?" Lance whispered to him in his ear as he came up beside him. Keith nodded in response as he eyed the small patrol sauntering around the lion. His tail unconsciously swished in frustration, as well as his ears flicking back. Lance raised an eyebrow at Keith's body language, and said quietly, "How are we going to get in? There's only one way in and out and that's through the mouth..."

  
"No." Keith tilted his back slightly to speak to Lance. "Remember when I dropped in to sleep with you from the black lion?" He glanced back and noticed Pidge raised an amused eyebrow. He ignored her with a playful roll of his eyes. "There's a door on their heads that can only be opened by the paladins."

  
"Oh." Lance blinked. This mission suddenly seemed a lot easier than he'd thought for.

  
"Cover me," Keith grunted before sneaking to the giant feline's tail, tucking his blade in it's sheath on the belt around his waist. He slowly made his way up Red's tail and along her back. He glanced back once and flicked his yellow gaze down, only to find Lance and Pidge tucked neatly behind on of the lion's legs. He smiled to himself, before spurring on to Red's head. It was quite a few minutes before he finally reached the top. With a puff of air, Keith started running his fingers along her head to find that niche on the surface under him. With success, he leaned down before gently pressing his hands to it. He closed his eyes as he concentrated.

  
He cracked his eyes open when he heard the hush of it sliding open. Grinning, he hopped down into it, and landed with an empty thump on the floor of the cockpit. He plopped down into the pilot seat, and was rather caught off guard when it scooted up to the control panel quickly, and everything glowed a red, bringing the ship to life. Keith cracked his fingers, before taking control.

  
The giant cat shuffled with a groan. Everyone snapped their attention to it, only to discover that it's eyes were glowing and it was starting to move from it's spot on the ground. The patrol panicked, and shot at the lion a few times before fleeing, which was a smart choice, for a tiny patrol like that would have no match against a giant space lion.

  
As Red stood, a Galran ship started from the thicket of trees, darting right for the lion. Lance and Pidge quickly scrambled to a safe distance away from the lion, sprinting to the trees they had come from.

  
They were suddenly interrupted when the firing of a gun blew up the ground between them, before they hastily split apart to avoid it. Swiftly yanking his gun out, Lance jumped and rolled behind a thick tree, planting his back firmly against it as shots continued to disturb the leaves on the ground, kicking up dirt and dust. He twisted to peek from around the tree, seeing how many Galrans were shooting at them at the moment. He couldn't get a good look, for one of them shot at him, and the fire burst into the bark of the tree. Lance yanked his head back and felt a sting on his cheek. He brought his hand up to touch the area, but winced when it made the pain worse. He pulled his hand away and glanced down at his fingers, which were coated with a bit of blood. He'd only been grazed, thankfully.

  
He took a deep breath, before shrinking low to the ground and poked his head out from the other side, while Pidge was inching closer, completely unnoticed. The Galrans kept firing at the tree Lance hid behind, and the ground beside him. Quickly, Lance took aim and pulled the trigger on his gun, before retreating back to the safety behind the tree. When he heard a dull thump on the ground followed by a cry of pain, he grinned. His confidence sparked as he continued to peek out from behind the tree at different angles and different places, hitting an enemy in the leg every time.

  
The final time he poked out, Pidge had flanked them and wrapped them in her green rope, snagging their legs and yanking them to the ground with a thud. He came out from behind the tree and sauntered to Pidge, helping her tie the wounded Galrans to a tree with their spare, regular rope. They all ducked when they heard a nearby explosion, which caused their ears to ring painfully.

  
Keith was busy taking care of the air patrol that seemingly went unnoticed by them, somehow. As one ship darted for him, the lion leaped over it, landing on the other side of the enemy ship and twisting back around as it skidded against the ground. Keith grunted as he tried to keep from losing control of the ship.  
With a sharp pain in his head, he snapped his head to his left, only to see several ships mere inches from the lion's body, at full speed, and before he could react, they rammed into the side of Red, knocking the lion to the ground with a thud that shuddered the earth in a cloud of dust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yum hopefully writers block wont bite me in the asshole this time
> 
> as always pls inform me of any booboos


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof hopefully this chapter is lon g e R  
> also im throwin smut @ yall in this chapter and a lil in the next >'3c i kept yall waitin long enough for it heheheghg

Lance and Pidge stood deathly still at the sounds of the explosion, and the silence that followed afterward. They exchanged worried glances, before they both unconsciously ran to the scene.

  
They skid to a stop when they saw the red lion toppled over to the ground, and Keith fending off many Galrans by himself, with struggle, it looked. Raising the muzzle of his gun, Lance began picking them off and away from Keith one by one, as well as Pidge alongside him. Together, they managed to get rid of the patrol, although it took quite a few minutes, if not an hour.

  
They stood in the middle of the woods, hands on their knees while sweat dripped off their faces and they panted like dogs on a hot summer day. At some point, Keith had walked over to Lance and pat him on the back, before mumbling, "Thanks, guys. I'd probably be fertilizer for the trees if it weren't for you."

  
"Don't mention it," Pidge grinned at them.

  
They returned the grin, and then Keith averted his attention back to Lance with a raised eyebrow. "I noticed you have a scratch on your cheek. Did one of those bastards get you? I swear I'll piss on their corpse."

  
"It's just a bullet graze." Lance said simply, standing to his full height as he began to catch his breath. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

  
"Are you sure?" Keith gave him a worried gaze. "That could get infected if not treated... How bad is it? Let me see..."

  
"Seriously," Lance pulled his head away just as Keith reached to cup his chin. "You don't have to be my mother. It's just a flesh wound; I'll survive."

  
Keith frowned as he retreated hs hand back to his body. "Alright. But you better tell me if it starts to hurt any worse, okay?"

  
"Okay, _Mom_ ," Lance mocked, rolling his eyes with a slight smile.

  
"...Do you have any other inju-"

  
"I AM PERFECTLY FINE, MAMA." Lance would never admit it to Keith at this time, but he'd been suffering from a few shots to his leg and a few claws to his back, and he was in a great deal a pain, but he wouldn't show it. He didn't know about Pidge or Keith, but he decided not to press on the subject.

  
But really, there was no use in hiding it from Keith. He always found things out, somehow. It was scary, really; you could hide practically nothing from him. And just as he'd guessed, Keith looked him over, before turning his gaze back to Lance's with a glare. "Why are trying to hide this from me? Are you trying to act tough so you'll impress me? Because if so, you're going to be sadly disappointed. Or is it just that you're trying to keep me from worrying about it so I can focus on the task at hand?"

  
Lance remained quiet. He sighed, "We don't have time for this... We'll worry about it later, please? We need to get this finished before we run out of time."

  
"...This conversation isn't entirely over." Keith huffed. "We'll talk about it later. Pidge? What about you? You hiding any injuries from me that I should know about?" He glanced down at Pidge.

  
"Nah," Pidge said awkwardly, rather unsettled by the unnecessary argument between the two boys. "I'm a-okay."

  
Keith examined her as well, and when he found no injuries, he turned back to Lance. "C'mon, let's get back to our lions and get out of here to get Shiro. I'll fly you to your lions." He popped Lance's butt with what seemed like a warning as he made his way back to Red, but Lance didn't see it as such. He merely felt a heat rise to his face before he mumbled in agreement, flustered.

  
Pidge rolled her eyes with an unamused sigh. She knew they wouldn't stop acting like lovesick donkeys, but she had no say in it, nor could she really stop them, so she kept her trap shut about it, deciding against the manner of addressing it again, for it would do nothing. Nonetheless, she didn't care. She was happy that they finally established their meant-to-be-because-it-was-so-terribly-obvious-that-they-had-the-hots-for-each-other relationship. She was proud of them for it. She was happy indeed, yes. The thought made her smirk as she watched Lance scrambled to catch up with Keith, while she trailed behind. Although she couldn't help it, she felt a little left out. Not that she was jealous of them, but because they seemed to focus more on each other and seem to discuss things between them rather than with the entire trio, like she's a mere squirrel to them rather than a companion and fellow paladin and/or close friend. They always walked side-by-side while she sauntered behind, they always gave each other loving looks while they immersed themselves and their thoughts into each other, as Pidge sat to the side and tended to her business, alone. She... Couldn't say it was the best feeling. She felt a little outcasted, but she knew they aren't doing it intentionally. They're in a newfound relationship, and sometimes that could be something that's constantly on the mind, which distracts them from their duties and what their actions are. She couldn't blame them, though they do need to come out of their fairy tale some time. Maybe she should talk to one of them about it in private, she supposed.

  
_No, addressing it will only make them more distracted than they already are... But what do I do if they don't straighten up and work with the team they were put with, rather than just each other? I should at least try to talk about it to one of them..._ She frowned at them as all three entered to cockpit of the lion, and yet they still acted like she wasn't there, as if she were a cloud. She felt... Rather alone, you could say. With a sigh, she sat on the floor while the two sat in the same seat together, so very close to each other that they almost seemed to be leaning against one another. She immersed herself in her thoughts as she frowned at the ground while they made their short trek back to their lions.

  
Exiting the red lion, Keith came out and grabbed Lance's wrist before pulling him into a kiss before he left. Lance smiled at him when Keith pulled away and said, "It's not like I'm going anywhere, I'll be right beside you, in a big... Blue, robot lion."

  
"I know, but-" Keith glanced at Pidge for a moment, who stood there waiting before she huffed and strode to her lion. "Nevermind. Let's go get Shiro while there's still time... We've wasted enough of it."

  
"Alright," Lance said, before placing a final peck on Keith's cheek. He then retreated and quickly caught up with Pidge, following her to their lions. "OH WAIT." Lance halts abruptly. He turns to the two before saying, "I gotta check something real quick, I'll find you guys in a sec, okay?"

  
"Okay..." Keith raises an eyebrow, watching Lance dart back the way they came.

  
Scanning through the forest, Lance finally found what- who he was looking for. Ank and Brak, still tied up to the tree. Ank had a scowl on his face as he stared ahead, his ears flicked back grumpily. "Psst-"

  
The Galran snaps his head toward Lance with a growl, but when he realizes it's Lance, he seems to relax. "Oh... It's you again." He glances around. "Where are your pals?"

  
"Somewhere. But I have a question."

  
"Ask away, lover boy."

  
Lance ignored the nickname with a huff, before squatting to the ground, eye level with Ank. "How exaclty did you know Keith wasn't... _Done?_ " He made air quotes at the word "done". He was glad he didn't have to explain, for Ank caught on immediately.

  
"Ah, curious question... Well, you see, each Galran has a specific smell when they go into heat, but they all have one stench about it that's just... Overwhelming. That's the only way I knew, plus he reeked of it. That poor thing is in desperate need of help." He raised an amused eyebrow with a small smirk. "You might be the only one who can help him, lover boy."

  
"...How am I supposed to do that?" Lance tilts his head, furrowing his brow together.

  
"Well duh, you fuck 'im."

  
"That's... Not what I meant."

  
"What did you mean, then?"

  
He sighed. He didn't like sharing personal information with a stranger, more or less an enemy he'd just fought not too long ago. "I meant how am I supposed to last that long? Like, the first time he told me about this, he was in his room for hours. Is it supposed to take that long to get rid of that?"

  
"How long, specifically?" Ank grinned at Lance.

  
"Two... Three hours?" Lance glanced to the side, trying to remember exactly how long. "He took a break before he went back up there for another one or two hours."

  
Ank chuckles in his chest. "Have you never done this before? Heh, looking at you, I wouldn't think you'd last an hour."

  
"Thanks, appreciate it."

  
"Don't mention it." Ank shrugs, his smirk never dying down. "Why are you here, again?"

  
"I needed to ask you a question."

  
"Have I answered it?"

  
"No, because I haven't asked it yet."

  
"Then please do, before you get caught. Make it snappy."

  
"How long... Does it usually take to... Satisfy something like that?" Lance asks awkwardly, cringing at his choice of wording, but was relieved when Ank doesn't seem to pay any mind to it.

  
His grin grows wider. "Normally, specifically three to four hours. Depends on the body type, and how intense you plan to be... For his shape, I'd say about three, if you're going easy on him. You could do him in two, at the least, if you're planning to be rough."

  
"Oh..." Lance blinks, rather shocked by the horrific time length. He really didn't think he'd be able to last that long. He'd probably pass out.

  
"Surprised?" Ank tilts his head at Lance, chuckling darkly. "Hm, you're a lucky one, y'know? You chose wisely."

  
"Okay, I don't need you bragging about my boyfriend." Lance shakes his head. "Thanks, but no thanks, that's my job." He grins at Ank.

  
"I see," Ank chuckles once more. Once he stops, he speaks again. "Is that all you needed? Or do you need me to answer more questions?"

  
"...There's one more thing," Lance speaks in a more serious tone, a visible frown spreading across his face. He sees Ank's face fall, also.

  
"Is it that bad?" Ank asks nervously, noticing the drop in the mood.

  
"Why are you attacking our planet?" Lance blurts, sitting on the ground as he shuffles his feet uncomfortably.

  
Ank stares at him in surprise for a moment, remaining silent. He glances to the ground in what looked like shame. He finally speaks after a few more moments, "Our planet is dead, and we've no place to call our own. And your planet seems to be the most hospitable to our kind. I myself, am not proud for attacking another race, planning to wipe them into extinction, just so we may live on their planet. It's... Wrong, if you ask me. I don't like it anymore than you do, lover boy... But I've no choice in the matter."

  
Lance is rather surprised by Ank's sudden opening up to him. He blinks as he comes up of a way to respond to him. When Ank doesn't look up at him, Lance huffs and brings his muzzle up and aims it at the two Galrans. Ank finally glances up and his eyes widen. "W-Wait! What are you-!"

  
He's interrupted when Lance pulls the trigger. The blue paladin lowers it with a smile. "There, now please get Brak help. I doubt he'll make it if he isn't attended to soon."  
Ank unglues his eyes, glancing around when he realizes Lance shot at the rope that held them to the tree. He looked up at Lance in shock, not sure whether Lance actually meant it or not.

  
Lance seems to notice this, before he nods, holding out his hand as he gestures to the still unconscious Galran.

  
"R-Right!" Ank scrambles to untie Brak, and once he does, he scoops the male into his arms, resting him over his shoulder. Lance stands as well, tucking his gun back into the belt around his waist. Before he can step back, Ank wraps Lance into a side hug, before placing a big, wet, sloppy kiss on his cheek. "Thank ya. I mean it." He gives Lance a friendly smack on the shoulder. It's a little rough, so Lance stumbles forward a bit as he's knocked off balance. "Good luck with your boyfriend, lover boy."

  
Lance wrinkles his nose in disgust as Ank steps back, releasing him from his arms. Lance brings a hand up to his face, wiping away the saliva on his cheek. "Yeah... You're welcome."

  
"'Til we meet again, right?" Ank smirks over his shoulder, before he strides away.

  
"Right." Lance is still trying to wipe all the saliva from his cheek as he ventures back to Keith and Pidge.

 

In the air, they were silent. All of them. Well... As far as Pidge knew. For all she did know they could be having a private conversation right now, and leaving her out of it, like they'd been doing. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she almost didn't realize her lion was trying to get her attention.

  
" _Oh. Jeez, I'm sorry girl. I was thinking_."

  
Green simply hummed to her as she gave her calming images through her head.

  
" _Thanks. I know you know there's something wrong with me, don't you? Hah, that's right... You know everything, don't you_?"

  
The lion purred in agreement.

  
" _You want me to spill it, right?_ "

  
The lion gave her an emotion that suggested that she already knew, but Pidge might feel better if she talked about it out loud.

  
" _I suppose you're right... Okay well, do you think I should talk to one of them about it? Or should I just stay quiet and quit being a whiny baby?_ "

  
Green gestured for her to do what she feels right, and that she will be there to support her, she ever needed.

  
" _Alright, then. Thank you, Green. You're more precious than an emerald, you know that?_ "

  
The lion sent a spark of pride through Pidge, which seemed to say, "I know I am."

  
Pidge smirked at Green before she then started to avert her attention to the intercoms. She made sure the link was on private with Lance's lion, so that Keith may not overhear. Once Lance accepted the link, she asked, "Hey? Was I bothering you two?"

  
"Nah, we weren't talking about anything interesting anyways. What's up?"

  
"Keith's not on the link, right? I wanted to talk to you about something, if you don't mind?"

  
"Keith's not on the link, no. And of course! You can always talk to me about whatever. I don't mind a bit."

  
A soft smile graced Pidge's lips. "Right. Thanks. Anyways... I see you and Keith are... Really stuck on each other, eh?"

  
She could hear the flustered tone in his voice. "Uh, yeah... I guess you could say that. Why? Does it bother you?"

  
"No- Well, yes. But I'm not saying that you should stop showing each other affection. I'm perfectly okay with that, and I'm okay with the fact that you're both dudes. But you two... Seem to shut the world out when you show each other affection, especially me, and teammate, someone who you need to address and speak to, instead of just the two of you. What I'm saying is, I feel... Left out, you could say."

  
Lance fell silent for a moment. "...Are you jealous because you don't get slaps on the ass from one of us? Or kisses? Are you wanting a threeway relationship?"

  
"Wh- No. That's not what I'm saying, good grief. I'm saying that you two shut me out like I'm a leaf on the ground; like I'm not there, and it bothers me. Plus, most of the time you don't speak to me in serious conversations that we all should have a say in. But, I don't say anything because I don't want to distract you two... More than you already are."  
"Oh... Yikes, I'm... Sorry Pidge, I didn't realize... Shoot, I really feel bad now. I'm sorry."

  
"No no, don't be. It's perfectly normal to have something like that come first to your mind. It's a new thing to you, and you're thriving in it. I understand. But... I really think you should just... Try to involve me more? Like a teammate, and your fellow paladin? And your friend? Rather than acting like I don't exist? Is that too much to ask?"

  
She heard Lance sigh. "No, it's not too much you're asking for. I'm really sorry Pidge, I had no idea it'd make you upset, or really what I was doing, actually. Hm, I'll be sure to talk to Keith about it, if you want me to, just in case you want to keep this a thing between me and you." When he got no response from Pidge, he scoffed softly, a bit of a laugh seeping into it. "I'll be sure to give you a slap on the ass next time, and a little kiss to go along with it."

  
"God, Lance. I'm serious here."

  
"I know, I'm joking. I wouldn't do that... Unless you insi-"

  
Pidge cut the link before Lance could finish his sentence. She leaned back in her seat with a sigh, running her hands down her face. Green poked at her thoughts with a bit of question.

  
" _That went better than I expected... I figured he'd get mad at me or something. Thank you though, for helping_."

  
The lion purred, and insisted that she had done nothing but tell her to do what she sees right.

  
" _Oh well, I count it as helping, take it or leave it." She pat the control panel with a smile. "Right then, let's stop this yammering and get Shiro, shall we_?"

  
Green growled in agreement and determination.

It was a few mere hours before they eventually reached their destination. Landing in the woods just a few miles from Shiro's home, to be safe from sight. They exited the lions and ran to Shiro's place, totally ignoring the burn in their lungs and the sting in their legs from all those miles.

  
They burst through the thicket of trees, where the house was. Or should be, that is. They came to a harsh stop as they laid their eyes upon what used to be Shiro's house. It was burnt to the ground, with small patches of fire still burning the charred wood and burning the area around it.

  
At this point, you could practically see the three of their stomachs drop to their toes. Dread seeped through Keith's veins as he felt his knees nearly give out on him. He was only stopped when he felt Lance grasp him by the shoulders and said softly, "Don't mourn just yet. Look," he pointed to the rubble, before averting to the woods off to their side. "They made it out. They're alive."

  
Keith looked at him strangely before following Lance's finger to the woods. "How do you-" he stopped his sentence short when he saw rather dull and faded footprints. Hope fluttered in his chest and gave him the confidence back. He allowed a small smile to grace his face as he glanced back up to Lance. He sighed in relief, wanting to melt into the ground from all that sudden tension.

  
"Right. Let's go find them." He said, before grabbing Lance's hands gently and removing them from his shoulders. He squeezed them tightly as he gazed into Lance's... Beautiful, entrancing, sparkling, blue eyes.

  
Lance smiled, before patting Keith on the cheek and turning to Pidge after Keith let go of his hands. "What do you think happened here?"

  
Pidge frowned as she glanced back at the pile of burnt remains of the house. "I don't know. There are a number of things that could have happened. Shiro could have had some explosive while all this unfolded and maybe used it to escape? Or maybe their captors rigged the place, somehow. I'm not entirely sure, but those seem to be the most likely. Not sure how they made it out alive, either, unlike their buddies, there." She gestured to a few bodies that almost blended in with the charred wood. "If those are their footprints, then they're damn lucky to still be walking out alive, right now; and that applies if they're someone else's.

  
"Lance, you should stay here and watch, just in case someone decides to surprise us. Since, after all, you're our sharpshooter. Keith and I should go after Shiro and Allura, since Keith seems to have the better nose, eyes, and ears than either of us. He should be able to track them down pretty easily. Understand?"

  
Lance didn't like the idea, but he knew it was for the best. He sighed and mumbled, "Okay. But don't be long... I'm not going to sit here for hours on end while you two are out having all the fun."

  
"Really now? I bet you would sit there for hours on end if it meant keeping us safe and alive."

  
"I-" Lance started to protest, but he shut his mouth. "I guess you're right. Well, if you're going, I think you'd better get to it and leave me to my misery."

  
"You'll be fine, Lance." Keith rolled his eyes as he turned to follow Pidge into the woods. "Jeez, you're so whiny."

  
" _You'll_ be the one that's whiny when I get a hold of you," Lance grumbled to himself as he plopped onto the ground, which kicked up a bit of dust from under him.  
"What was that?" Keith growled as he snapped his head back to glare at Lance.

  
"Nothing!" Lance chirped, waving Keith off with a smirk. "Nothing you should worry about."

  
Keith raised an eyebrow. "Just because we're in the middle of this situation doesn't mean I won't kick your ass."

  
"I'll take my chances," Lance snorted, gazing off into the distance as the other two departed to hopefully and successfully find Shiro. He glanced through the side of his eye as he watched Keith walk away into the dark forest with Pidge. He frowned. He couldn't help but to feel a little abandoned, but alas, this was no time to whine to himself or anyone else about it, he knew it was necessary.

  
He tapped his foot on the ground with agitation as he waited for them to return.

  
Pidge stayed close on Keith's heels, the dimly lit forest took most of her sight away. She could hardly see Keith in front of her, which was a scary thought. What if someone ambushed them? And Pidge would have no idea because of the loss of her sight? What if Keith had to fend them off on his own? What if she accidentally hurt Keith while trying to help him fend off the enemy because she was as blind as a bat in here? She let her thoughts get the best of her. She unconsciously slowed her pace, staring at her gun in hand with a visible, but faint frown.

  
Keith seemed to notice this and glanced back, before quickly looking ahead again. "Everything alright back there? You see something?"

  
"Oh! No, my bad." She scrambled to catch up with him. Man, he was fast... Are all Galrans that fast? Or is that just a trait of Keith's? Well, whatever it may be, it sure would come in handy.

  
"Which part are you saying no to?" Keith raised an eyebrow as he gazed back at her again.

  
"...Both, I guess." She shrugged. "But, it doesn't matter right now. What matters is finding Shiro."

  
Keith didn't respond, he only turned his attention back to the darkness in front of them. Or, darkness to Pidge, rather. His eyes were much more sensitive than hers, therefore he could see a wider area than her, however, this does not mean that he himself didn't have any trouble navigating. It was quite difficult for him to see, also, but not as much so.

  
As they made their way deeper into the thick woods, it seemed to get darker by each step they took, which made Keith very nervous, and no doubt, Pidge as well. Anyone could jump them at any time out here and the two of them wouldn't see it coming.

  
His ears twitched when he heard the faint rustle of leaves behind them. Keith held out a hand in front of Pidge, which she didn't notice, and bumped in to. She looked up at him with a confused brow.

  
Keith stood deathly still. He flicked his head slightly in the direction where the sound was coming from when he heard it once more.

  
"What is it?" Pidge whispered, glancing around nervously.

  
"Something." Keith simply responded in a whisper, slowly turning his head to the source of the noise when a twig snapped just a few meters from them. "Get your bayard ready. I'm not planning to be the ones who are surprised." He whispered, not daring to look away.

  
She didn't as told, holding her bayard at the ready, lifting the muzzle of it in the direction where Keith was glaring. When they heard another rustle on their other side, they both jumped. Keith glanced in the direction, giving Pidge the silent order to aim that-away, while he watched their other side. There they stood, back to back, standing at the ready to strike at a moment's notice, in a terribly dark forest.

  
Keith's tail swished from side to side anxiously as he turned his glare everywhere, hoping to find some movement of some sort that would give them the upper hand.

  
When they heard a low growl, Pidge tensed and her muzzle stood to full attention, as did she, and Keith drew his weapon with a huff through his nose.

  
Finally, after all the tension, their attackers come into their field of view. They were... Dogs... Big, dogs. Not wolves, no, but one seemed to resemble a dusty looking husky, while the other was merely a small cloud, for all they knew. The two snarled and barked viciously at them as they progressed forward to the duo. They instinctively stepped closer to each other, their backs flush firmly against each other as they tried to back as far away as possible.

  
"Why... Are there dogs?" Pidge leaned her head back to speak in a low voice to him. "They don't look like wolves. They look like a domesticated breed. Do you think-"

  
Pidge was cut short when they heard a loud cry before they both were brought to the ground with a harsh thud. Keith was brought into a choke hold, which was a strong one, in fact. He didn't think he'd escape from it, although he thrashed and kicked and clawed and bit at the arms of his attacker, hoping that they would release. His air supply was being cut off quickly, and he started to see spots fill his vision. The dogs' ferocious barking was turning into echoes.

  
However, Pidge fought relentlessly. She blocked several blows, and took some, too. At some point, she was sure she'd tripped her attacker and brought them to the ground, for she heard a dull thud. It sounded like it came from behind her, so she wasn't sure.

  
After a moment, she felt strong arms snake under her arms and restrained her to an iron chest. She kicked his shins and thighs as hard as she could, flailing and wiggling her body, hoping to escape his grip. She grunted and cried, "Let me go! You'll regret it if you kill me! I have backup waiting to come in here right now!"

  
That's when everything went still, and quiet. She was still restrained, but seizing the opportunity to escape, she managed to kick and wiggle her way out of the strange male's grip.

  
"Pidge?" said the soft, graceful voice that she'd grown ever familiar to. "I hardly believe it."

  
"A-Allura?" Pidge stuttered, a wave of surprise and shock washed over her nerves. "But... Why would you-?"

  
"We didn't know it was you until you said something," the voice that spoke was gentle and determined. Pidge knew that to be Shiro. She didn't know how, but she saw Shiro turn his head back and frown. "That must be Keith, then..."

  
A sudden soft glow came from Allura's hand: a lantern. She lifted a strange mask off her head to reveal her sweet, beautiful face. She leaned down to Pidge with a sigh. "We're very sorry. We thought you were some Galrans coming out to search for us and to take us in, or kill us, at worse."

  
"Well, you got the Galran part right," Pidge laughed a little breathlessly as he gestured to Keith, who was unconscious on the ground. So she didn't trip anyone, after all. It was just Keith plopping to the ground lifelessly. Refreshing.

  
They both examined as Shiro pat the side of Keith's face several times, packing in a few good smacks here and there. A final smack, and Keith was awake again. He sat up as he coughed and sucked in air relentlessly, trying to regain the air lost to his lungs.

  
"I'm gonna fuckin'-" Keith choked out as he started to lunge at his attacker, but when they gently placed their hands on his shoulders, he unwillingly relaxed, which caught him off guard. "What-"

  
"Shush, it's Shiro," the said person chuckled. "Just sit down and stay still until you catch your breath."

  
"Wait..." Keith was still panting slightly, though it started to die down as he started to converse with Shiro. Keith was happy to see him, no doubt, but he wanted his confusion settled first. "Then why did you-"

  
"We thought you were someone else." Shiro interrupted once more. "Seeing a Galran followed by someone with a gun is an unsettling sight to see after what happened, you know. We're not used to seeing your Galran form, so it caught us off guard. Plus, it's quite dark out here, isn't it? We apologize for it."

  
Keith sighed. "Apology accepted." He glanced at Allura then back to Shiro. "Why are you guys out here, anyways? And what's happened to your house? And why are there dogs?"  
"We..." Shiro swallowed the lump in his throat and glanced down at the grass. "We had some difficulties. We'll explain on the way... And those are ours... The Samoyed his Hyin, and the Husky is Smoky... You brought your lions, no? Since you're dressed up like you are..."

  
"Yeah we did," Pidge said, rubbing the back of her neck with a small wince. She was starting to get the small twinges as well. She glanced down when Smoky approached her. She held out her hand for the dog to sniff, and when the dog nuzzled it, she pat its head. "C'mon, Lance is gonna work himself up and might come looking for us if we don't hurry."

  
"Ah, Lance is here?" A smile of delight spreads across Shiro's face. "That's good to hear. What about Hunk?"

  
"Back at the castle." Pidge answers. "With Coran."

  
Shiro nods before they follow Keith out of the forboding forest, but they are a little held back when Keith starts getting sudden lurches in his lower stomach. He doubled over with a grunt, and Shiro glances back at him with concern, stopping the girls in their tracks. "You okay?"

 

Lance is waiting patiently- impatiently, just outside of the forest, tapping his foot on the ground under him with a quite visible frown. He glanced around, watching for enemies that may come their way. He wasn't too particularly happy about being left behind here, but he guessed he could sort of see their reasoning behind it. He looked into the sky with a huff, counting the seconds that ticked by. One painful second after painful second.

  
One hundred eight... One hundred nine... One hundred ten... One hundred ele-

  
He snapped his head back when he heard the rustling and snapping of twigs from behind him, only to find nothing there. He narrowed his eyes, before shifting on his stance slightly, slowly lifting his gun muzzle in alarm. He flicked his gaze from side to side, and his nerves were starting to run on edge when he couldn't see anything because it was so fucking DARK. He grumbled in frustration, lifting his gun to eye level, at the ready.

  
When not a sound was heard after a minute, he lowers his stance slightly, and he would soon come to regret that, for the moment he started to stand straight again, he heard someone yell in his ear "Lance!" before someone leaped at him and tackled him to the ground with a loud, but dull thump. When they hit the ground with a thud, Lance grunted from the weight on him, knocking all the breath from his lungs. He was about to throw a blow from down below when he realized that familiar dark set of hair.

  
"K-Keith?" Lance croaked out in question, trying to catch his breath with small, but deep inhales. "Christ... I thought I soiled my pants for a second, there."

  
Keith purred against him and rest his chin against Lance's chest with a smile, before mumbling a quick apology as his ears flicked back. "Hi."

  
Lance raised an eyebrow at him, almost as if you could clearly see question marks above his head. But when he saw that familiar flush on his cheeks, he was slowly starting to catch on, but he wasn't quite so sure. But his thoughts were interrupted when Keith hugged him tightly, nuzzling just under Lance's chin. "I missed you." He hummed.

  
"I uh..." Lance glanced up to see Shiro leaning over with a frown, forcing his hands in between Keith and Lance's bellies. He effortlessly plucked Keith up from Lance like he was merely an overgrown cat.

  
"Sorry about that, Lance." Shiro smiled, holding the squirming Galran Keith. "Uh, well as you can probably tell, we have a little problem on our hands..."

  
"Laaaaance..." Keith sing-songs with a pout, trying his best to wiggle out of Shiro's caging embrace.

  
Lance blinks from his spot on the ground, his eyes flicked to stare at Keith, who only simply mewled at him with a purr. "What-"

  
"Uhh, let's just say that Ank dude was right about Keith..." Pidge pops in from behind the bulking form of Shiro with a frown. "He's... You know what, I'm not even going to finish that sentence." She held her hands up, shaking her head.

  
"Oh." Lance simply says, shocked that he was actually right.

  
Shiro furrows his brow as Keith begins to wriggle more and more, like a restless worm. However, the more Keith wiggles and squirms, the tighter the security of his arms around his torso becomes. "You might have to pilot the red lion and let Allura pilot the blue, since Keith is... Clearly not in any shape to drive."

  
"Alright."

  
"And we're putting him with you, we don't want him... Doing whatever... You know..." Pidge stutters, a disturbed furrow in her brow made her look uneasy. "We'd like very much not to see that."

  
"Alright," Lance sighs, finally managing to get enough air to circulate back through his lungs again. "I don't mind, I guess. Or I shouldn't, hah."

  
"Deal." Pidge then starts making her way to where the lions are waiting for them, and Shiro and Allura follow behind.

  
Before they leave, however, Allura leans over and offers a hand to Lance, which he gratefully grabs, for he's still a little dizzy from the impact of Keith's pounce. "You alright, there?" Allura steadies him when Lance stumbles a little, but he nods, his head a little fuzzy at the moment.

  
"Yeah, I'm fine." He blinks slightly, shaking the feeling away. "He hit me pretty hard." He chuckles.

  
"We saw," Allura chuckles as well, before they both trailed behind the others, not too far behind, however, just on their heels.

 

Soon enough, they are loading up into the lions and are off into the sky, on their way back to Coran. Shiro rode with Allura, and the two dogs, of course, in the blue lion, while Lance and Keith rode in the red, and Pidge in the green.

  
Shiro and Allura were quiet and calm as ever, as was Pidge, since she really didn't have anyone to talk to. While Lance... He was having a bit of trouble.

  
"Jeez, will you get off-"

  
"Aw c'mon, you're comfy." Keith curls up further into Lance's lap, hands trailing up and down his torso and sliding along the fabric of his pants. "And warm..." He cooed against Lance's neck, which sent a jolt down the boy's spine.

  
"Do you want us to crash?" Lance grumbles, pulling his head away from Keith, which unintentionally only exposes more of his neck. Keith leans in to lap at it with his tongue, humming. Lance feels a shiver make his body quiver slightly.

  
"Red wouldn't let that happen," Keith smiles, placing a kiss at the crook of Lance's neck. "Right baby?" He calls to the lion, who seems to grumble in response, a tinge of annoyance shooting through both their minds.

  
"He's annoying, isn't he?" Lance says to Red, who seems to agree. He pauses. " _You wouldn't actually let us crash, would you?_ "

  
The lion signals him something that meant, yes, she would, that it's not the first time it's happened.

  
_I can save this for the castle..._ Lance turns his head to Keith with a raised eyebrow as the dark haired male teased as the hem of his pants. As he stares at Keith a bit longer, he then starts to have a mental conversation with himself. _I don't really have anything to do, though. And the ride back is hours long. What am I gonna do for hours on end with an eager Keith in my lap? I can't just keep resisting him. Can I? No no, it'd be better to wait until we get to the castle... I can hold him off until then, hopefully. He's acting differently than last time... Last time he seemed more in control of himself and didn't seem like a drunk idiot. Why's he acting like that? Is it really that bad, this time? What can I do to distract him from me? Oh, whatever. This is hopeless. There's no way I can manage to keep his hands off me._ He smirked. He liked the sound of that. A lot. A lot more than he'd like to admit. _There's no way I can manage to keep his hands off me._ He repeated that several times in his head. He blinked as he sat back in his seat, removing his hands from the controls.

  
" _Sorry Red, just for a while, I promise._ "

  
Red growled which said very sternly, _you two better not get busy in there or I really will crash us._

  
" _I'll try._ " Lance chuckles. " _No promises._ "

  
Red huffs.

  
_Maybe I'll just cuddle him... That should calm him, hopefully._ Lance decided to try, for there was no telling and only one way to find out. He sighed as he let his nose rest on Keith's head, whom consistently ran his hands up and down Lance's shirt, clearly mentally and physically unable to keep his hands to himself. Lance snaked his arms around Keith, hugging him close while he gently rubbed at the male's side with his thumb. When Keith let out a small whine, he immediately stopped that. _There's no way he's_ that _sensitive..._

  
Keith snuggled into the body he sat on, nosing his way into the crook of Lance's neck while he trailed kisses along the warm, tan skin while a smile graced his lips. "Mmh, you're so warm... I love it... Ooh, please- please touch me, Lance. Please..."

  
Lance allowed himself a peek at Keith's face, which was flushed with half-lidded eyes. The dark haired male furrowed his brow together and let out another small whine. Lance guessed going into heat came with consequences. Embarrassing consequences, maybe some painful ones, too, because by the look of Keith's pain expression, Lance was guessing he experienced something like cramps along with waves of heat wafting across his body. They don't call it heat for nothing. He almost felt bad for Keith.

  
Almost.

  
Keith bit into Lance's neck with his sharp fangs, and the blue paladin shrieked.

 

It was a long, long ride back... For Lance, anyways. Long and miserable. Miserable, because he had to try his best not to give in to Keith's pleas and urges and teases. He had to wait until they got to the castle. At some point, Keith fell asleep, which Lance was thankful for. He was just about ready to tip over the edge and submit.

  
He huffed in relief as the castle finally came into their view. He tried not to stir too much, for fear of waking Keith. And only God knows if he'd make it the rest of the way without crumbling like a crusty wall.

  
When they landed, the impact roused Keith from his short slumber. He glanced around, rather confused. He blinked lazily, before yawning, which revealed sharp white fangs. He hummed, "Mmh, where are we? How'd we get here so fast? I thought we were in the forest."

  
Lance looked down at him with confusion. "What are you talking about?"

  
Keith seemed to realize at this point that he was flush against Lance's warm torso. He felt a heat rise to his cheeks as he slid off with embarrassment. "Why was I-"

  
"Keith, really? You don't remember what just happened over those few hours?" Lance tilted his head, clearly not catching on to why Keith seemed so dazed and confused.

  
"No... Wh-" He cut himself short when he felt that twist in his stomach. It twisted so bad it hurt. He grunted in pain, slouching over slightly. He glanced up at Lance with a flustered frown, and said, "I see... What all did I do?"

  
"We'll talk about it later," Lance said as he stood from the seat. "Right now we have to talk to Coran, it seems."

  
"Alright... Help me up, please?"

  
Sighing, Lance held out a hand to Keith, hoisting him onto his feet when the male grasped it tightly. He wobbled a bit to the uncomfortable feeling between his legs with a frown. He grumbled, "Let's just get this over with, please."

 

Entering the castle was a little loud, for Coran nearly screamed at the top of his lungs when he saw Allura walk in. Hunk was there, too, and his sweet, radiant smile beamed at everyone when he saw them. He looked so happy to see them, it nearly made Lance's heart melt. Before he could process what was happening, Shiro practically scooped everyone into a big group hug. They all were squished together and tangled in limbs, and it was a little tight, but nonetheless, they all enjoyed it. Good grief, they were like a big, sappy family. But Lance loved it. He loved them. More than he'd like to show. They filled the void of missing a family in his chest, and he loves it. He would die for it.  
After they all break apart after a minute or two of holding each other, they all swoon over the dogs and love on them for a bit, before they begin to discuss of what's to happen next.

  
"I think we should go up there and see if there are any fleets out there that we can stop from coming into the atmosphere," Coran suggests.

  
"No, if they were out there then they surely would already be down here... They're planning something." Shiro shakes his head, not quite able to wrap his head around it. "I don't like it. They're waiting for something."

  
"Do you think it's some kind of mothership they're waiting on?" Allura asked, glancing out the windows of the castle with a frown. "If so, then we need to find out where it is and destroy it. That way we can completely interrupt their plans. They won't know what to do without orders. They'll be like sitting ducks."

  
"I don't think they have motherships, besides for that one we destroyed..." Pidge piped in. "After all we've seen in our days in Voltron, we've never once seen another mothership. Sure, we've seen a ship that looks like the rest of the fleet where they give orders, but that's not a mothership. A mothership gives orders out to all. Plus it's... Huge. Like, way huge. Like in the movies."

  
"Don't you think-" Allura started to doubt Pidge.

  
"I'm not saying this is going to be like a movie." Pidge interrupted Allura before she could finished her sentence. "It has to be huge in order to store all the information and technology in it, and even thousands, if not millions of ships and pilots in there. Plus they have to have supplies, so they'll need room to store that."

  
It made sense...

  
"So... What's the play?" Lance asks, sitting on the floor beside Keith as he twists his body to face his companions.

  
"I think... We should go up and do an orbit patrol." Coran says his mustache twitching with what seems like a bit of reluctance. He doesn't want to go back into space to fight more.

  
"That seems like our best option," Shiro hesitantly speaks. He doesn't want to fight, either. Everyone is silent as a heavy atmosphere engulfs them.

  
They all just want to settle down and remain at peace. Live out the rest of their lives, happy and content with their families.

  
"Alright... Then we should go ahead and get up there, then." Allura spoke lowly, a frown etching onto her face. She throws Keith a worried stare when he squirms and grunts in pain. "Lance."

  
Lance glances up from Keith's hand to the person who called his name. She nodded to the hallway. "Take care of him, please. Avoid ruining his ability to walk if possible." She smirks before throwing a wink at him.

  
"I'm right here, you know." Keith twists his head with a small glare at her. Her smirk only grows wider as she waves them off, shooing them away.

  
"You all should return to your rooms, anyway." Allura says to the group. "You're going to need your energy."

  
They all mumble something like they're all telling their mother goodnight. She smiles, but it soon falters when Shiro is heading out in the same direction with them. "Where are you going?"

  
Shiro stops and turns around to blink at her with a raised eyebrow. "To bed?"

  
"Oh... Well, I'm coming with you."

  
"Uh, Princess, you don't have-"

  
"I want to. So hush." She sets her index finger gently on Shiro's lips, allowing it to rub at his bottom lip for a second before she pulls it away gracefully. Shiro felt his heart skip a beat.

  
She smiles at him, before she leans in to press a soft kiss on his lips, which he returns just as softly. She pulls back as a smile graces her face. "Let's go lay down, we've..." She frowns down at the dogs piled at her feet. She remembered everything in precise detail, and it made her shiver. "We've had some long days lately..."

  
"Alright." Shiro sighs, before leading her to his room, leaving Coran to saunter to his, as well as everybody else.

 

"Lance, I dunno if I can-"

  
"Hush, Keith. We can't let you wander around on the battlefield the way you are... You'll be distracted and at a disadvantage."

  
"I can handle myself, really."

  
"It seems you can't, since Ank was able to smell you a mile away. He himself, a purebred Galran, said that you hadn't taken care of it completely."

  
"I'll make sure this time, I promise."

  
"I don't believe you."

  
Keith sat on his bed as he stared up at Lance, who was towering over the red paladin while he stood. And to his relief, he was back to his regular skin now, rather than fur and ears and tail. "You never do."

  
"What are you saying?" Lance narrows his eyes at Keith. "Since when have I not believed you? For once? Besides now?"

  
"I care not to count, but I could say many a times."

  
"That's-" Lance glances to the ground with a frown. He then shook his head. "You need to be at your best, Keith. I only want to do what's best for you."

  
"And you will be if you just leave it to myself." Keith snapped at Lance. "I am perfectly capable of jacking my own self off, thanks but no thanks."

  
Lance raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you just cooing to me about how you wanted me to touch you not even four hours ago? And all over me?"

  
"That was four hours ago."

  
"Does it make a difference?"

  
"Yes it does, in fact."

  
"Why can't you let me do this _one_ thing for you?" Lance says, relaxing his frustrated posture a bit. "You always do shit for me and it gets on my nerves because I haven't done shit for you in return."

  
Keith wrinkled his nose and scrunched his eyes when another painful wave of heat swooped over him, each one getting worse. He was really considering letting Lance take care of it... "I don't want our first time being in the middle of a crisis, you know?"

  
"I understand, but what if we don't make it out of this crisis?" Lance asks, still avoiding Keith's gaze. "You even said so yourself that we may not make it out alive, and we had to do what we could before we ran out of time. So... Here's our chance. Do you want to take it, or no?"

  
Lance caught him. Keith opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't find any words to snap back with. Lance was right. And as much as Keith didn't like to admit it to himself or anyone, there was a constant cloud of fear hanging over his head, as well as the fear of regretting not doing what he could have done while he had the chance. Keith stayed silent for a solid moment, and that was enough for Lance.

  
"Alright," he sighed, turning for the door. He stopped at the door frame, pressing his finger against the panel, and the door slid open with a faint whoosh. He twisted his head back to catch Keith's lingering gaze. "I'm not mad at you, just know. I understand and respect your choices." He paused. "I love you. Try to sleep when you're done, eh?" He threw Keith a soft smile before he stepped out of the door and into the rather dimly lit hallway.

  
Keith felt his chest leap into his throat at what Lance had just said to him. He realized he's making a huge mistake. He practically leaps from his spot on the bed with a grunt of pain as his body screams in protest, especially the friend between his legs, who was crying for attention. He caught the door before it closed and slipped out just in time, and he chased Lance down the hallway, although the male hadn't gotten very far. Keith swiftly grasped the blue paladin's wrist, and before Lance had time to react, yanked him back into Keith's torso, crashing their lips together roughly. He heard Lance yelp in surprise at the sudden attack, and he was tense for a moment, before he realized it was only Keith.

  
He smiled against Keith's lips, knowing damn well in his mind that Keith knew he was right. He won that argument, and he wasn't gonna let that go. But he was snapped from his thoughts when Keith slid his hands down to his waist, squeezing his hips. He pulled his head away for a brief moment, and only managed to get out, "Not in the hallway, now", before Keith attacked his lips again with a growl in his throat.

  
Without a warning, Keith was stepping backward, dragging Lance with him. Eventually, he allowed Lance to lead them, but Keith refused that after a moment. He spun them in a small circle, so he was the one leading them. He would crack his eye open to watch where they were going, before it would avert to Lance's flustered face; red as a raspberry. He smirked.

  
Once he felt Lance's back press up against the door to his room, he practically punched the panel to the door, which slid open as they stumbled in. Lance was rather taken aback by Keith's aggression, but it made him smile, nonetheless.

  
The red paladin guided them to the bed, and once they arrived to their destination, he nearly threw Lance onto the bed. They parted for a moment, which Lance took the advantage to suck in a breath, but that was quickly interrupted when Keith was quick to crawl over him and reconnect their lips. Lance was already starting to get excited.  
Keith groaned against Lance's lips, and the vibration tickled at the latter's skin.

  
While Lance was enjoying himself, Keith wasn't much so. Each minute that he wasted making out with Lance, the more the heat built up, and it built itself quickly. His entire body was hot, and felt sweaty. His face felt hotter than the sun, and the waves of heat throughout his body was not helping. It was starting to become unbearable. He needed these clothes off, and fast, before he practically suffocated in the heat. He bit down on Lance's bottom lip with a groan as he nestled himself between Lance's legs.

  
Lance winced when he felt a sharp pain on his lip, and he pulled away for a second, panting like a dog. "What... What was that... That hurt like hell..." He risked a glance up at Keith, and the sight of a dark haired male with his face lit up like a glowing strawberry with sweat rolling down his temples and to his cheeks, which made his face gleam in the light of the room, with half lidded eyes staring down at him while he panted relentlessly was not at all what he expected, and it went straight to his dick. He blinked and swallowed the lump in his throat as his face heated up even more, if that was possible.

  
Keith simply growled, gritting his teeth as another painful wave hit him, which increased the heat in the room.

  
Lance caught a glimpse of... Fangs? Did he see that right? He reached his hand up to Keith's face and thumbed at his lips, which Keith took into his mouth without hesitation, closing his eyes. It felt weird, feeling someone else's tongue roll around his thumb, while teeth bared down gently on it every once in a while. Yep, those were definitely fangs, but they didn't feel as pronounced as when he was in his Galran form. But still, they felt sharp as could easily break skin.

  
"M'sorry." Keith mumbles against Lance's thumb. He didn't even bother to open his eyes. He was still panting like a dog, unlike Lance, now, who caught his breath rather quickly. The heat was starting to close in on Keith, and he couldn't take it anymore. He needed these clothes off, or he'd go mad. As his breathing started to pick up pace, so did the frustrating waves of heat. He pulled his head away quickly, before he started to remove his armor and padding.

  
"Shit, Keith-" Lance breathes, raising an eyebrow at how desperate Keith seemed. At this point, which Keith doesn't realize, he's whimpering with every breath he takes, and it was rather concerning for Lance, but arousing at the same time. He drew in a breath when Keith finally managed to get the top part off of him.

  
He was trying to kick the last part off with a frustrated huff, but he was unsuccessful. He turned his attention to Lance with a needy pout, before he whined, "Please help me."

  
Lance blinked. He wasn't even out of his own armor yet. Lance then saw how impossibly sweaty Keith was, due to the light making it sparkle against his skin. "Please, I feel like I can't breathe... It's so _hot_ in here..." Keith breathed pleadingly.

  
"Okay, okay." Lance swallowed the lump in his throat as he sat up, hooking his index fingers under the suit, sliding it down. He made a bold move; leaning in to kiss all the new ground he's uncovered, starting from Keith's throat, down his torso, to his hips, where he dragged the clothing down.

  
Keith hisses, flinching away from Lance, which stopped the blue paladin's actions. "Don't tease me. You're making it worse-"

  
Lance leans up to hush Keith with his lips. "The worse it is, the better and quicker it'll be."

  
Keith wasn't so sure about that, but he nodded hesitantly, setting his trust in Lance. "Whatever." He murmured, before making Lance strip him of his garments. Finally, after a painful amount of teasing his skin with Lance's lips, he was finally out of that suit. He felt like he could breathe, but it was still so hot. He was merely in his underwear, now, and he was still burning up. He glances down to them, before back to Lance with a huff through his nose.

  
"Excuse me, allow me to at least get something off, first." Lance said, before he started to strip himself of his remaining armor, and soon enough he was pulling down his suit. Keith watched, eager to get this pressure off his body.

  
"Lance." Keith said, impatience in his voice as he tapped his finger on the bed.

  
"Good grief, give me a second, Mr. Impatient." Lance groans, trying his best to hurry and get the suit off before Keith has a come-apart.

  
"You better make that second quick or I'm ripping it off." Keith growls, narrowing his eyes at Lance.

  
"My," Lance laughs breathlessly at Keith's threat, though he wasn't really phased by it. Once the suit was at his toes, he finally kicked it off to the floor, next to Keith's.  
Shit... This was really happening. Like, happening. In real life. Right now. Lance could hardly wrap his head around it, as he was eager to experience it. He was finally getting what he wanted... Since from the beginning, when his mind was in a constant race about Keith. Because he was thirsty as hell for Keith. And he was finally... Getting that thirst satisfied, while he returned the favor for Keith; to satisfy his heat. He didn't think they would do it under these circumstances, however. He always fantasized about it being sweet and romantic. Not... Desperate and possibly rough. Oh well, it's better than nothing, right? He guessed this really was a fanfiction where he has an unlimited amount of luck and everyone lives happily ever after, getting exactly what they wanted. But he knew that wasn't true; he honestly waiting for the moment where things all went wrong. And he felt that was coming very soon, whether he liked it or not. So, he was grateful for his time with Keith... And he was glad that Keith didn't push him away to take care of himself. He was glad he could do... What he possibly couldn't if Keith had refused it. He was happy.

  
" _Lance_ , stop _goggling_ at me and _please_ ," Keith groaned, restraining himself from bucking his hips into Lance. "I know I'm hot and all but... Can it wait?" He pleads, desperate.

  
"Okay, okay," Lance gives in to Keith's whining. "What do you want me to do, exactly?" He asked rather awkwardly.

  
"Just... _Anything_ , just so long as it gives me some kind of _release, holy FUCK_." Keith practically sobs, his body beginning to shake with the raw, awful heat he was having. By far, he felt this was the worse heat yet. He's never felt his desperate or hot. He felt like he'd just been thrown into a pool of lava and was melting, agonizingly slowly. There were tears starting to prick at the corners of his eyes.

  
Lance glances down at the tent in Keith's underwear, before he hesitantly hooks his fingers under the hem of it, before slowly pulling them down past Keith's hips. Keith's groans at the slowly receding pressure on him, his body aching for freedom. "F-Fuck, Lance..." He leans further into the male under him, until he's lying flush against him. He buries his face into Lance's shoulder, before mumbling against the skin, "Just touch me already, please."

  
Lance's heart nearly stops beating, for it's beating a hundred miles a second, thumping loudly in his ears.

  
" _Lance_ ," Keith whines, gently biting into the said person's shoulder, urging him on.

  
Lance finally pushes aside the nervous virgin in him, and finally tugs Keith's underwear down, pulling them off Keith's ankles and into the floor with his feet. He hears Keith let out a shuddery breath as he feels the latter's shaft already hard and awfully slick with precum in his hand. Keith whines as Lance's fingers wrap more securely around it.

  
Keith mewls into Lance's skin, needing friction so badly, he's shaking and tears rolling down his cheeks in pain, and frustration. "Laaance, for fuck's sake, will you just-" He's abruptly cut short when Lance's hand snaps up and down, and he arches his back with a low groan, brow furrowing together as he's finally getting what he needs.

  
Lance is pleased with this reaction, and does it once again, receiving a choked grunt from the male on top of him. He takes note of how impossibly hard Keith is as he continues his actions, and how sticky and hot Keith feels against his chest. It almost feels as if he has a high fever; a fever that is probably higher than what is considered safe for humans. And he couldn't imagine how the human part of him is handling that, but maybe it was the Galran in him that kept him from crumbling. He really couldn't possibly imagine how Keith felt, going through these heat cycles. It must be a pain in the ass.

  
Although I'm about to be the pain in his ass, Lance grins as he continues to tug, relishing in Keith's relentless squirming and groaning above him.

  
"Please... Faster _please_." Keith was stuck in between his thoughts and what he was actually saying. What he was thinking would usually get confused for what he spoke, and he only realizes it was a thought when Lance doesn't respond to it. "Please," he pleads.

  
Lance responds to his plea picking up the pace as asked... Or actually, _begged_ , of him.

  
Keith is already close to reaching his climax. Usually, his first round doesn't take too long, which is actually great, because he's finally getting some pressure out. And soon enough, his back arches beautifully as he climaxes into Lance's hand with a loud groan. He stay in that position for quite some time, before he sighs, relaxing into the daze he's trying to get out of. That's never happened before... "Ho-Holy _fuck_..." He sighs in relief as he feels a little of the heat wash away, but there's still quite a lot of work to do before he's satisfied. With a breathless chuckle, he looks up at Lance through watery eyes, before leaning up to meet the male's lips.

  
Lance was feeling awfully tight, so while their lips were locked, he discarded himself of his underwear as well, his erection finally springing free from its prison. He sighed through his nose at the relief, kicking the underwear to the floor with the rest of his clothing. He was feeling a little deserted, but this was about Keith at the moment, not him. He was helping Keith, not himself. But his mind was quickly fogged when Keith started trailing kisses down his chest.

  
Smiling, he stops Keith, taking the dark haired male's chin in between his index finger and thumb, tilting his head up to look at him. He says, "You don't have to do that Keith. Next time."

  
"What if..." Keith pauses as another wave hits him sharply. He winces, letting out a small grunt. When he recovers from it, he shakes his head. "What if there's not a next time? Just let me-"

  
"No no." Lance kisses Keith's lips gently. "It's okay, Keith. Let me handle it, okay?"

  
Keith blinks away an urge to groan in pain when yet another wave teases at him. He nods reluctantly, unconsciously letting Lance flip them over, switching their position. He stares hungrily at Keith's erection, before he shifts himself lower, his face perched in between Keith's legs, while his hands grasp at Keith's thighs. His mouth his watering by the time he's down there, and he doesn't hesitate the first time Keith lets out a plea. He wraps his lips around Keith, earning a choked moan.

  
"Oooh, _fuck_ Lance." Keith sings, bucking his hips as Lance slowly progresses down further along. He's nearly overwhelmed by the warmth of Lance's mouth wrapped around him, which increased the heat washing over him. But instead of awful pains, it was a pleasurable heat, and he loved it. Oh, how he loved it. And oh how he wanted more of it. _Needed_ more of it. He wanted it more intense. Faster. He bucked his hips again, groaning low in his throat as Lance worked absolute magic. How was he so good? Maybe it was just the heat talking, and he really was desperate and Lance was actually pretty shit at it, or somehow Lance was secretly a dick-sucking god. He whined, stretching his legs, hoping to get more action from Lance.

  
The red paladin gasped as Lance started to grope at his thighs, along with more suction. That made his mouth fall open, a bit of saliva running down the side of his lips. He gripped the bed sheets under him, letting his head fall back onto the soft fabric with a deep groan that vibrated in his chest. "Lance... Pick it up."

  
Again, Lance obeyed the commands from Keith, doing as he asked. He removed one of his hands from Keith's thigh, before he raised his head, and the warmth of his palm replaced where his mouth couldn't reach. But Lance pulls his head away, releasing Keith from his mouth with a small pop.

  
Keith whimpers at the stand still of friction, relaxing his body slightly, but he tenses right back when Lance drags his tongue along Keith's shaft. He shudders. "Lance," he warns, trying to restrain himself from bucking his hips in Lance's face. But he needed this release so bad. He could already feel it start to burn pleasantly between his legs, while the burn throughout his body, not so much. It was still gnawing at him.

  
Keith growls in his throat as he quickly becomes impatient, wrapping his legs around Lance's shoulders in attempt to urge him on. He constricts his legs slightly, squeezing Lance's shoulders. Before he can growl Lance's name again, his body jolts violently when he feels a single finger slip under him, prodding at him gently. He catches his breath in his throat, which chokes the grunt that tears from his throat. He's already close to the edge again. So quickly, too... Who would have thought Lance was someone to inflict such pleasure? And it didn't even look like he was trying. Again, maybe it was just the heat talking, and he was just... Really, really sensitive. But he couldn't help it. Lance was magic at its finest.

  
When he feels the finger slip into him, he jerks once again as he lets out a low whine, resisting the powerful urge to roll his hips into Lance's finger. The blue paladin didn't even have the second section of his finger in and Keith was already shaking and sweating. His breathing becomes more rough and ragged, and he's so hot that he feels like his breath is giving off plumes steam in the rather cold room. Lance nestles further in and crooks his finger, and that does Keith right there. He arches his back as yet again, he reaches his climax, which was more intense than the first one. It made his muscles in his legs tense and constrict, causing him to toss his head back further into the fabric under him with a loud moan. It was only when the fog from the orgasm cleared his mind, that he realized Lance hadn't pulled away or released him from his mouth. He glanced down to the warmth still remaining around him, and chuckled breathlessly, letting his head flop back down. Lance had swallowed it all down, and not a single fucking cell escaped his mouth. Keith was almost positive that Lance has done this before, but he wasn't entirely trusting his thoughts right now. But even a drunken lunatic who was stumbling around the room would think that Lance has done this more than once.

  
"What's so funny?" Lance says after he lets Keith go with another pop, smirking up at the flustered Keith as he removed his finger, which he was rewarded with a small groan.

  
"Just..." Keith breathed, trying to calm his uneven breathing and shaking. "You."

  
"How, hm?" Lance asks with a smug grin, sliding up Keith's torso with his tongue, hands gliding up the red paladin's sides like a bird in the sky. Keith shivers, feeling goosebumps run up his spine and along his arms.

  
"Just _you_ ," Keith takes in a shaky breath, arching his back gracefully into Lance with a faint whimper in his throat. "How're... How're you so good at this...?"

  
"Practice makes perfect." Lance winks at Keith, before breaking the gaze on him by slotting their lips together. The red paladin hooks his legs onto Lance's hips, crossing his feet together at the small of Lance's back. He furrows his brow together for a second, but he shakes the thought away. Well, he didn't really, but the friction from Lance grinding down onto him did.

  
Keith huffs another laugh. "Your ego is too big to be doing this..."

  
The said person hushes Keith by slipping his tongue in between Keith's teeth, before he repositions himself at the male's entrance, his heart thudding with excitement in his chest. It pumped adrenaline throughout his limbs, making his head foggy with passion as he stared down at Keith when he pulls away, a thin string of saliva hung between them, shimmering the in the light as it broke. Lance licked his lips, savoring the taste of Keith on his mouth. He shrunk back, sitting up slightly to crane his neck to lick and suckle at Keith's warm, sweaty thigh, the saltiness lingering on his tongue. He grinned against the skin when he felt Keith shudder under him with a shaky breath, so he rewarded the red paladin by dipping the tip of his head into him. Keith caught his breath in his throat, which he choked up on and swallowed thickly.

  
"Keith," Lance said, leaning down to mumble in Keith's ear, a gentle hum against his neck. The said person shivered, whining quietly. Lance tilted his head to press his lips against Keith's hot cheek, before he mumbled against the skin, "If I start to hurt you, tell me, will you?"

  
Keith snaked his arms around Lance's shoulders, letting one hand travel down to the small of his back, while the other remained around his shoulders. It wrapped them in a kiss as Keith tilted his head to meet his lips with Lance's own, grunting down the male's throat when he slowly began to ease himself in. It was the longest minute of Keith's life before the blue paladin was finally nestled deep.

  
As Lance inched in further and further, the heat engulfing him made him groan deep in his chest. "Hwoo..." Lance droned, shutting his eyes as he felt them roll into the back of his head. He gripped Keith's thigh tightly, choking up on is words. "K-Keith, holy... Uugh." He remained still though, waiting for a sign of Keith's approval. When he felt the dark haired male lean in to bite on his bottom lip, he gladly returned it with a steady, slow roll of his hips. Keith pulled away to groan, trying to catch his breath while so. And ooh shit, Lance almost lost it. The motion of his hips stuttered for a moment as he restrained himself not to ram into the poor boy. He bit his lip as he stared at Keith's red face, which was glistening with a layer of sweat and half lidded eyes that watered relentlessly. When those purple eyes closed to mewl in his throat, Lance stuttered again. He huffed through his mouth with a laugh of disbelief, shaking his head.

  
He kept the speed steady, although it was rough here and there, and after a few minutes, Keith began to move his hips in sync with Lance's. "Go... Faster, damnit." He digs his fingertips into Lance's back as a warning as his back arches slightly off the bed.

  
Lance obeys, nuzzling his face into the crook of Keith's neck as he started to roll his hips faster and harder into the boy under him. Keith threw his head back and cried out, his back coming further off the bed. His body began to pitch up with each thrust from Lance, and his mind was in a pleasant bliss of nothing but sheer pleasure. He's burning in between in legs, while his insides are melting into pools of magma.

  
Lance feels his heart flutter into his chest as the moans and groans vibrate in his ear and spurr him on faster. At this point, Keith his crying out with every thrust, and he's starting to shake under Lance again with small whimpers and choked whines. He would constrict around Lance whenever he tensed, and Lance allowed a groan to tear from his throat and onto Keith's hot, sweaty skin. He cocked his head to the side to mouth at Keith's neck, suckling on the pale skin and lapping his tongue across it. One of his hands travel back up along Keith's side, before it slides onto his stomach and slowly glides up. He takes one of Keith's pink buds in bettween his index and middle finger, and teasing it with his thumb.

  
This earns a strong cry from Keith, saliva slowly trailing down his chin and the corners of his mouth and tears running down his temple as he practically sobbed. He grit his teeth and furrowed his brow together tightly, squeezing his legs on Lance's hips. His nails unconsciously dig into Lance's back, scraping them across the skin and unintentionally breaking it, as they are unnaturally sharp, as are his teeth.

  
Lance hisses at the burn on his back, but nonetheless doesn't pay any mind to it, too wrapped up in the fog of pleasure. He was enjoying himself and Keith too much. Too much to even hear the knock on the door until a voice spoke after it.

  
"HEY!" The voice came again, pounding on the door with frustration. Lance slowed to a stop, much to Keith's displeasure. They were both panting like dogs; Keith quivered under Lance as he gasped for air, tense against Lance as his chest heaved up and down. It was Hunk banging on the door. Lance blinked in confusion through the thick atmosphere of passion and pleasure, forcing himself to focus.

  
"W-What?" Lance breathed, choking up when Keith shuffles uncomfortably under him.

  
"Look, guys," Hunk starts awkwardly, but still with a bit of irritation in his voice. "I don't mind you doing your business but it's really hard to sleep when I can HEAR YOU GUYS _FUCKING_ THROUGH THE WALL. I'M SURPRISED THE _WHOLE SHIP_ CAN'T HEAR YOU TWO."

  
If Lance weren't trying to ignore the rock of Keith's hips against him, then he would have laughed. But he didn't, and he grunted out, voice wavering slightly, "Sorry."

  
"No you're not." Hunk sighs with a breathy chuckle, and Lance could practically see him shaking his head. "Just try to tone it down a little, please? I just want to sleep..."

  
"Okahh," Lance moans, and he slaps a hand to his mouth as his ears light up with heat. He glares at Keith, who only gives him a weak grin. "Okay." He tries again, his voice more firm this time.

  
Hunk doesn't say another word, he only walked away with a pitiful huff. Again, Lance would have laughed, if not for Keith continuing the motion of his hips. He furrowed his brow at the amazing friction of Keith's hips. "Whoa... Keith-"

  
Now Keith was the one being cocky, and taking control. He leaned up and pressed a kiss to Lance's damp lips, pushing him onto his back. Keith now towered over Lance when he pulled away from their connected lips. He rested the palm of his hand on Lance's chest, supporting himself as he arched his back to get a good angle on himself. He rolled his hips, and when he found that spot, his palm turned into a fist on Lance's chest as he grit his teeth and glued his eyes shut, a strong, choked groan tore from his throat. He kept the friction going for a bit, before he finally started to lift himself up and down with his thighs.

  
Lance bucked his hips into Keith, his hands flying to grasp Keith's feet, although he wanted so badly to grope at his thighs or hips or-

  
He takes a hand and gently wraps it around Keith's wrist, pulling it off of him as he sits up. Keith cracked open an eye to give Lance a faint confused look, before it's wiped off his face when Lance locks their lips. While Keith is distracted, Lance removes his other hand, and the two of them travel over Keith's hips, around to his shoulder blades, then ever so gently glides down the sweaty skin, only to take hold of Keith's fucking beautiful ass. Holy shit, it was so... It was so fucking good; soft, a bit sweaty, firm but squishy, plump. Ugh, he wanted a piece of that ass, in a bad way. Ever since the beginning, he remembers eyeing Keith's ass whenever he was behind the male.

  
"Keith," Lance said, barely above a shaky whisper as he palmed at Keith's ass. Keith whines, gripping tightly onto Lance's shoulders. Lance melts at the noise. "How're you so good at this...?" He feels a shudder run up his spine, goosebumps following in its wake as he feels his climax start to approach. He snakes one hand between them and wraps his tan fingers around Keith, twisting and snapping his wrist.

  
Keith _cries_. Actually _cries._ There are big, salty, warm tears running down his face as he practically sobs from all the overwhelming pleasure. "Goddamnit Lance!" Keith sobs, his grip growing tighter by the moment as he can feel Lance pound against him in sync with the rocking of his hips, and it's just too good. He throws his head back and shouts as an aggressive orgasm washes over his weak, sweaty body.

  
Lance relishes in the sound that rings in his ears, and cherishes the warmth in his hand. And once he feels Keith tighten around him, that does it. He doesn't even have time to react or pull out because it hits him so suddenly. The grip on Keith's ass tightens, and he removes his hand from Keith's erection to grasp his thigh awfully tight, his fingertips digging into the skin. He grit his teeth and scrunched his eyes shut as his brow knit together. He unconsciously continued to thrust until he rode it out. He finally came to a stop and unglued his eyes, only to see Keith hugged up against him as he wheezed for air, small whimpers escaping here and there.

  
The first thing that Lance noticed was that Keith was trembling. Trembling so bad that it felt like it was rattling Lance's bones. The second thing, was that he heard Keith hiccuping and snuffling, on top of panting like a dehydrated dog, and the hot tears running on his shoulder. At first, he was afraid he'd hurt Keith, but his worries were resolved when Keith mumbled weakly, "Holy shit... That- That was..."

  
"Amazing?" Lance finishes for him, glancing at him with a fatigued smirk. "Yeah."

  
They stayed silent for a moment, the only sound in the room being the heavy breathing of them trying to catch their breath. "...Lance?"

  
Lance hums in his throat in response, rubbing his thumb across Keith's ass.

  
"I love you."

  
Lance blinks in surprise. Did he hear that right? He allows a smile to creep over his lips. "I love you too."

  
Another silence. "Lance?"

  
Lance chuckles. "Yes?"

  
"I don't think... I'm not quite done yet..."

  
Lance groans and laughs breathlessly, letting his head fall on Keith's shoulder, shaking his head. " _God..._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yooyir please inform me of any booboos
> 
> yeet hope issa spicy for yall


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If we lose, then I'm going to die trying to save this planet. It's the only home I've ever had, even if there was no specific place for me to stay. But even then, I would wonder about and hang around somewhere before moving on. I never left this place. I guess that's why I was starting to feel a little homesick, even if I had no home to return to. Earth, is my home. But, my true home is where ever you guys are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo sorry for not posting a new chapter lately ive been super stressed n i havent been doing much with this chapter

"Jesus-"

  
Lance receives a low grumble as he's pitched up over and over. Keith is lying along the curve of his spine, whispering filthy things into the blue paladin's ear. But Lance was rather caught off guard when Keith groans, "Fuck... I'm really hungry."

  
At that point, Lance doesn't feel Keith thrusting into him relentlessly only to slow to a stop when the blue paladin snorts. He cackles, hanging his head and shaking it.

  
"I-I swear," Keith says awkwardly, sitting up to wipe his hands down his face. "I did not mean for that to come out of my mouth."

  
"I'm sure you didn't," Lance chuckles between gasps for air. Laughing while trying to catch his breath was not a fun experience. It was kinda hard to get air to his lungs. "Jesus, if you're really that hungry you can just eat _me_." He cooed, before starting his fit of chuckles again.

  
"You're hopeless." Keith sighs, before he slowly removes himself from Lance, which earns him a chuckle that's been choked with a groan. "I'm just... Really, really hungry... And tired."

  
"You know we can take a break, right?" Lance glances back at him with a raised eyebrow, trying to calm the heat on his face, and the burn in his legs. "'M gettin' kinda hungry too."

  
Keith huffs. "Alright... I guess we'll sneak..."

  
"Oh, I'm a pro at this." Lance smirks. "If I can sneak past Mama in the middle of the night for food, I sure can get past everyone here. I've even snuck food from you once."

  
"What?" Keith rolls his eyes, before sitting on the side of the bed, his feet touching the cold floor. Keith hisses quietly at the zap of cold on his feet.

  
"C'mon," Lance said just a little too cheekily, standing up rather awkwardly from the bed. "Ouch-" Lance winces, switching his weight on one leg to the other.

  
"What's wrong?" Keith tilts his head, unconsciously letting his eyes trail over the tan, built body displayed in front of him. He was hitting that just a moment ago. That's his. Boy, was he proud of it, too. That's his, and nobody else's. Only _he_ gets to touch that. Only _he_ gets to ram his cock relentlessly into that beautiful body. Only _he_ gets that boy's cock in his ass. Only _he_ gets to kiss that freckled face. Only _he_ gets to snuggle up into the side of that body and fall asleep. That's _his_ Lance. _His_.

  
"Think you were a little rough." Lance smirks, cocking an eyebrow at the way Keith's purple gaze wandered around his body.

  
Keith doesn't answer him, only continuing to admire him. He didn't realize that Lance had said something, he was too deep in this Lance Trance. His eyes stop at Lance's butt, and once he sees the goodies in between Lance's legs, he just wants to-

  
"...You havin' a nice show, there?"

  
"Mhm," Keith hums, but he blinks himself out of his trance when he realizes what Lance said. "I mean- What did you say?"

  
"Nothing," Lance hums in an amused tone, twisting back around to pick up his clothes on the floor. He eyes the suit of the armor, and frowns, before tossing it back down and sauntering to one of Keith's drawers, which were full of his jeans. He slipped a pair on, and they... Fit him snugly. He looked hot in them. To Keith, at least. Anyone else probably would have found them a bit exposing. Lance tucked himself into the jeans (which he found difficult, for he stood to full attention), but didn't bother zipping or buttoning them up. Again, it looked hot.

  
Keith does the same, wobbly, though, finding a pair of ones that had been folded neatly on the drawer and left there. He slipped those on, and unlike Lance, zips and buttons them up, because he values his dignity highly. He started to slip a shirt on when Lance snatched his wrist, dragging them down the hallway and into the kitchen. The door drug open with a quiet whoosh, and they both stopped dead in their tracks when-

  
"Oh." Shiro looks up from his plate at the table with a surprised brow. "Surprised to see you here."

  
"We could say the same of you," Keith snorts as he quickly trudges over to the goo dispenser, and makes himself a quick plate of it. Although, it didn't look like a quick plate, but rather a small hill.

  
"Jesus, Keith." Lance raises an eyebrow with a chuckle. "How many people you feedin'?"

  
"I feel like it's two." Keith huffs as he plops down beside Shiro, sinking into the chair. His eyes start to slide close when a dull pain on his rump makes him shuffle uncomfortably.

  
"Lance go too hard on you?" Shiro asks with a smug grin. Lance is now at the goo dispenser, and he's frozen as he stares at Shiro in a silent shock. Keith blinks at him, drawing his head back slightly. Shiro chuckles and nudges Keith's shoulder with his own. "I'm kidding."

  
Lance shakes his head, wandering to the seat beside Keith. He plops into it, but regrets it as soon as he does. He scrunches his nose in pain, biting his tongue as he tried not to make a peep, but the other two already noticed. Shiro looks amused, while Keith has this sideways smirk on his face.

  
No one said a word for a while while they ate, and when they finished, Shiro was leaned back into his seat, arm propped on the head of it. "So... What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be..." He trails off, not sure how to put it.

  
"We got a little peckish," Lance explains, before raising an eyebrow at Keith. "Well, I'm peckish, Keith might be _mealish_."

  
Keith glares at Lance as he continues to eat, rolling his eyes afterwards and ignoring the two as they chatted.

  
"I see." Shiro nods slowly, looking down in his cup of whatever liquid they drank. He swirled the substance around in the cup for a second, before looking back up at Lance. "You think you two will be okay tomorrow? Sore?"

  
"Better that than..." Keith butts in and pauses. "...In much worse pain, if you get me."

  
"I get you." The older male smiles taking a quick mouthfull of his drink. "You might be okay, for the day. I don't think we're really going to be doing anything, really. Scanning the atmosphere is all we're doing. If we find anything suspicious, then I'll be sure to give you the easy jobs." He winks.

  
"You don't have to do that." Keith says as he finishes his plate. "We're perfectly capable of doing things ourselves. Sore or no."

  
"If you insist." Shiro shrugs. "But don't come asking me if you can take different roles, now."

  
"Yes sir."

  
They sat in silence for a moment, before Shiro spurs it away with his voice. "Lance? How's the family?"

  
"Ah," Lance smiles. "They're doing fine."

  
"Keith?" Shiro turns his head to look down at the boy beside him.

  
Keith narrows his eyes for a moment, before shaking his head. "The lady's a bitch, all I gotta say." Shiro raises an eyebrow at the use of language. "I'd be better off with an alien mom that I rarely see than some old hag I barely even know who hates my guts, y'know?"

  
"Understandable." He leaves it at that.

  
"What about you?" Lance pipes in, setting his plate in the dirty pile of them.

  
"Japan." Shiro answers simply, and when they don't seem to catch on, the male sighs and elaborates. "They live in Japan, and I didn't want to be half a world apart from you if you ever needed me, or, like now, something ever happens. So I stayed here in America with you, rather than Japan."

  
"Aww," Lance coos, nudging Keith's shoulder. "I think he just said he loves us."

  
The older male clicks his tongue with a shake of his head, taking another sip from his drink. "Hardly."

  
"But you know you do."

  
Shiro glances at the two boys and narrows his eyes with a smirk etching onto his lips. He hums in contemplation, before chuckling, "I'll think about it."

  
Lance throws a playful punch to Shiro's shoulder. He grins, before he stands and stretches, yawning wide. He smacks his lips a couple of times, before mumbling, "Imma be back in the room... Come back soon." He yawns again, sauntering back down the hallway. Or, rather waddling, really.

  
"...So... You and Lance." Shiro says the second the doors close shut. He stares at Keith through the side of his eye, expectant of an answer from the red paladin. "How's that going? Or if you'd prefer not to say, I understand."

  
Keith draws a smile across his lips as he stares at the now closed door, where Lance had just departed. He feels his face heat up as he glances down at the table. Flustered, he says, "It's going... Better than I expected."

  
"Oh?" The black paladin raises an eyebrow. "What did you expect?"

  
"Lots of arguing." Keith frowns. "Not getting along. Just... Verbally violent. You know how he can be... Although, I didn't expect some romantic idiot out of him."

  
Shiro smiles, turning his head toward Keith as he spoke. "An explanation would be nice."

  
Keith feels his ears light up with heat, and he's sure Shiro can see them glowing red. "He's a little handsy, I'll give him that. But he's... Really, really sweet. Like, I know that sounds cheesy, but he's such a softie when it comes to something like this. I surely didn't expect that out of him. It surprised me at first." Keith lets out a small laugh. "Don't think I've ever been with someone like him. I actually look forward to our relationship, rather than dreading it."

  
"...Do you love him?" Shiro questions, softening his gaze with a small smile.

  
"I love him." Keith answers with a scoff. "I really do, surprisingly. Hah, I never thought I would live the day that I actually said that about him."

  
"How much?" The black paladin questions a little further, although he's gentle about it, for he doesn't want to make Keith uncomfortable with answering questions he doesn't intend to respond to.

  
"A lot. A whole fucking lot."

  
"Bite your tongue, Keith." Shiro cocks an eyebrow at the use of language. He takes another drink. "Have you told him yet?"

  
Keith's smile fades. "No..."

  
"I see." Shiro nods in understanding, turning his gaze away to stare down into his half-empty cup. He began to swirl it around again. "I understand. You've only been together for a few days. I can tell you're not ready for something like that. But... You two have been..." He pauses, trying to find the right way to word it. " _Busy_ for the past two hours. When do you plan to tell him?"

  
"Some time," Keith sighs. "I don't know when... If you're talking about just saying, 'I love you' to him, then that's already done and over with. I've said it more than once, actually... But if you're talking about... _Actually_ confessing everything to him, then no."

  
"No what?"

  
"No, I haven't told him. I don't think I should, either. I'm afraid I'll scare him off."

  
"Keith," Shiro sets his cup down gently onto the table, before turning in his seat to face the said person. He uses calm and smooth movements, almost as if he were to frighten a deer. Keith glances up at him, turning his head to meet Shiro's silver gaze. "Lance loves you dearly. I can see it all over his face. He looks and seems so much more laid back and relaxed, now. And that's good. All that tension from bottled feelings made him shut down at times. He seems... Relieved. Relieved to have you to call his."

  
Keith stared at the surface of the table in front of him with a small frown, but he felt happy; giddy. The butterflies in his stomach refused to die down, and his heart rate increased. Of course, his ears were lit up a bright red, and Shiro seemed to notice, for he smirked and sat back in his seat, gracefully grabbing his cup from the table again. They both fall silent for quite a bit.

  
Keith bites the inside of his cheek. He doesn't know whether to excuse himself so he can finish his business with Lance, or to keep talking for a little bit longer. He goes with the latter, he needs someone to talk to besides Lance. "So why're you up?"

  
"She snores." The black paladin chuckles, shaking his head slightly. "Just needed a little peace and quiet for a little."

  
"Did we bother you?" Keith frowns, tilting his head up at Shiro.

  
"I can't say you didn't," he explains in a smooth tone. "But I didn't mind, really."

  
Keith nods, starting to chew at the skin on his cheek. He sighs through his nose, before mumbling, "I probably shouldn't keep Lance waiting... He might come back in here and drag me."

  
"Understandable," Shiro huffs a laugh, before patting him on the shoulder. "Try to finish up quickly, if you can. You're gonna need your rest."

  
"No promises." Keith smirks, winking at him before awkwardly standing from his seat. "I'll see you..." He glances at the clock on the wall, which was a little difficult to read, since it was alien. Nearly 1:00. "I'll see you in a few hours."

  
"Alright." Shiro says, before bringing the cup to his lips and tilting his head back, taking one long glug and finishing off the drink. He sighs, standing from his seat as well, setting the cup with the rest of the dirty dishes. "I wanna show you something, first." A smirk cracks over his lips as he turns back to Keith.

  
"Uh oh." Keith raises an amused eyebrow. "I know that look. What're you up to?"

  
"C'mere," Shiro gestures for the door as he saunters to it, and Keith follows close on his heels. He trails behind Shiro down the hall, and he realizes they're heading for his room. Questions start to bubble, but he bites them down. He watches as Shiro taps in the code to open his door, and when the door slides open, the light from outside the ship gently shines in on the sleeping Altean woman in Shiro's bed, who was starfished across it with the blanket practically in the floor and the pillows a mess and hugged close to her chest. The blanket only covered a portion of her legs, and of course, she was snoring. And she sounded like a bulldozer.

  
Keith felt a tickle in his chest, and he restrained himself to let it out. However, Shiro was snickering quietly beside him, so Keith just breathes a chuckle, shaking his head. He thought of Shiro to be mature and responsible, but... This was a thing about Shiro he had to get used to. His soft and joking side. But he loved it, nonetheless.

  
"Alright, alright," Shiro huffs, a few chuckles still bubbling up from his chest here and there. "I've bothered you enough, run along you little rascal." The black paladin ruffles Keith's hair, before retreating back into the darkness of his room, the door sliding shut right behind him. Keith smiles as he as well, retreats to his room.

 

"Jesus, please slow down."

  
No answer, only heavy breathing and a few grunts.

  
"I can't... Take anymore-"

  
"Well, you're going to."

  
"Keith," Lance wheezes, trying his best to suck air into his lungs as he talks. He squeezes the hand in his, trying to get him to heed. "I can't fucking breathe."

  
Another answer of silence; just grunts and hot breaths on his neck. But, he does get a response, however, but not quite the one he was looking for. A hand trails up his rapidly rising and falling chest, before fingers inch their way into Lance's mouth. Lance knew Keith was trying to shut him up, so he did just that. He hesitantly rolled the fingers on his tongue, suckling on them and gently biting into them. Breathing through his nose proved way more difficult than he thought. Plus it was loud and distracting, too. He felt like he was currently running fifteen miles a minute. He was the one shaking, now. He only realizes it when he snakes a hand up to grasp Keith's arm tightly; it trembling rather violently in the air. "Just... Take it a bit longer."

  
Lance can't take it anymore. He opens his watering mouth to get more air, Keith's fingers still remaining in their place in Lance's mouth, on either side of his tongue. As he gasps for air, small whines and whimpers leak into them as he tries to breathe, but moans and groans interrupt him. He finally starts to feel his high build up, and Lance knows this one shows him no mercy. He arches his back and cries out, his nails digging into Keith's arms, and he was sure he broke the skin. At his reaction, he felt Keith pound relentlessly into him with a harsh growl, and it was knocking the breath right out of his chest. Now it was really hard to breathe. Lance didn't think Keith would be this damn rough. _I really won't be walking tomorrow_ , Lance managed to think through the thick fog in his mind.

  
Keith could feel Lance start to tighten around him, and he knew Lance was ready to get this done and over with. He could tell through the watery film in his eyes that Lance was exhausted, just as Keith was. But pleasure surged him on, and he was determined to finish this for good. And the heat was receding rapidly. He knew they would be done for the night. As he continued to slam harshly into Lance, he himself could feel his high start to approach. Although it was much slower to arrive, unlike all the other times he'd climaxed.

  
Lance's body pitched up as Keith's hips rammed against him, rocking the bed along with their movements. And after a few, good thrusts, Lance cried out as his back arches violently, his eyes screwing shut as his mouth fell open. His brow knit together as his nails dug further into the pale skin above him, and he unconsciously dragged them down to clutch at Keith's wrists. And the moment he released all that pressure, he "scream-sobbed", as he would describe it.

  
The sound rung in Keith's ears pleasantly as he continued to thrust, trying to finish himself off. He felt Lance start to twitch under him from the over-stimulation, while he was still panting awfully, trying to catch his breath while whines, whimpers, and sobs seeped into the sharp breathing. His eyes looked heavy, and Keith almost felt bad for working Lance to the bone like this, but he was desperate. Plus, Lance was the one who agreed to it. That was his own fault.

  
"Hold on, Lance." Keith grunted shakily, clenching Lance's fingers that were intertwined with his. He was trying to reassure that this would be over soon, and they could finally sleep. Finally, Keith tips over the edge, and he grits his teeth as the cry that tears from his throat is strangled. Once he feels it's over, he loosens his muscles with a deep, heavy, shaky sigh. He cracks open his eyes, only to find Lance's eyes closed as he rests his head against the pillow under his head, still panting relentlessly as there are still tears running down the side of his face. He's shaking a bit, and still twitching here and there, but otherwise, he looks relaxed now. And at this moment, Keith felt like he was ready to pass out from exhaustion, which set in immediately among his limbs the moment he loosens his clenching muscles. He lets his grip go from Lance's hand as he slowly removes himself from Lance, earning him a small sob.

  
He collapses beside Lance, staring up at the ceiling, dazed. He feels the body beside him jerk slightly, which causes him to glance over. Lance's breath was hitching in his throat from the sobs as he tried to suck the lost air back into his lungs. Keith felt bad, now. He frowned, before throwing a weak arm around Lance's sticky, tan skin. He shushes Lance, reaching up to gently run his hands through Lance's brown hair. "I'm sorry."

  
He feels Lance's head shake, which was followed by a fatigued chuckle. "Don't." He breathes, relaxing into the mattress under him, finally with a shaky sigh.

  
"...What?" Keith exhales, still trying to catch his breath, as Lance was.

  
"Don't be." Lance laughs breathlessly. "It was... Amazing..."

  
Keith blinks, and smiles weakly. "Good. I thought I hurt you..."

  
"Oh, you did." Lance raises an eyebrow with a small smirk on his face. "I'm already sore..."

  
Keith chuckles, before it died down to a puff of air from his cheeks. "Well... We should try to sleep... You know? We gotta lot to do tomorrow."

  
"Keith, I don't think either of us is going to make it out of bed, haha."

  
"Well, we gotta at least try to. Our planet depends on it."

  
Lance huffs. "Alright."

  
They get comfortable, but Lance his under the blankets, but Keith isn't. He lays on top of the cover, and Lance turns on his side to face Keith with a raised eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

  
"...Trying to sleep?"

  
"On the covers?"

  
"It's hot."

  
"No it's not? It's freezing in here."

  
"Well, excuse me, I, Keith, the blood of Galra and human, have just went through my heat cycle, and it does not just simply _go away_ after fucking for two hours. It takes a little while to cool down."

  
"...Whatever you say." Lance rolls his eyes with a small smirk, turning back over and relaxing. They only open again when Keith scoots closer to him and drapes an arm over his side, hugging him close to his rather sticky, sweaty torso, which was growing cool. "Thought you said you were hot?"

  
"You bet." Lance can't see it, but he can tell clearly that Keith grins and winks.

  
Lance shakes his head, before he shuffles closer to the body against his back, relaxing into it and letting the warmth lull him into a deep sleep.

 

"Wake uuuupp!" A strong voice comes loudly from outside the door, banging on something metal. "Up!"

  
The door slides open and there's more metal banging, before, "UP UP UP UP."

  
Lance and Keith both immediately sit up, their bed heads horrible and frizzy. Lance looks partially dead, while Keith looks ready to stab someone. "Huh?" The blue paladin yawns, squinting his eyes in the lights that come on as the intruder steps into the room, disturbing the peaceful silence.

  
"UP."

  
Lance's vision finally settles it, and realizes it's Shiro... Shiro? Was he seeing this right? Or was he still asleep?

  
"Get up, lover boys!" Shiro shouts with a smirk on his face. "We've got work to do!"

  
"What in your bright mind made you decide to wake us up like this?" Keith grumbles, glaring daggers through Shiro's skull. As he shuffles, he can already tell his thighs and hips are stiffer than logs, and his ass was still quite sore. He glances to Lance, just as he sees him wince and rub the small of his back; just above his butt.

  
"Bet he got laid this morning." Lance huffs, flopping back down onto the bed with a groan.

  
"Get up, soldier! No sleeping in! It's time for breakfast!"

  
A silence. Keith flicks his gaze down at Lance with a raised eyebrow, knowing good and well that Shiro wouldn't leave them alone until they were up and at 'em.

  
"GET UUUUUPPP! _UP UP UP UP UP UP_."

  
They both groan loudly in despair.

 

"Was that necessary, Shiro?" Keith grumbles, walking rather awkwardly down the hallway as he trailed behind the older male. Lance was at his tail, and... He wasn't taking the activity of walking on too well. He waddled like a penguin, shuffling his feet across the floor, avoiding as much movement as possible. Maybe Keith had been a little too rough...

  
"What was?"

  
"Banging on those damn pots and yelling in our ears like you did."

  
"Yes, because otherwise you wouldn't have gotten up."

  
Keith narrows his eyes at the back of Shiro's head, hoping that the black paladin could feel the daggers go right through. "Did you wake everybody else up like that?"

  
"Yup. Gotta be fair."

  
"When did you become so annoying?"

  
"This morning." Shiro hums as he opens the door to the kitchen, he confidently walks in with a small smile on his face, meanwhile Keith tried to contain his posture and walk like a normal person would, but that proved very difficult at the moment. His ass hurt like hell, but he was pretty sure it was much worse for Lance. He threw a glance back.

  
And yes, Keith was right. Very much so. Lance's legs were stiff and his back was straight in what looked like a painful way. He allows a small smirk to etch onto his lips as he feels a spark of smugness jolt through him. _Hehe, I did that._

  
"Keith, Lance." Allura's smooth voice cuts through the silence. She flicks her gaze to Shiro and smiles, "Shiro."

  
"Good morning, Princess." Shiro returns the smile, his gaze softening as he lets it linger on her.

  
Lance leans in and whispers into Keith's ear as he holds a hand up to his mouth to direct the sound so that only he and Keith could hear, "Definitely got laid this morning." Keith grins and feels a laugh bubble up in his chest, but he chokes it down with a scoff and elbows Lance in the ribs, which the male responds to with a quiet chuckle as he leans away again.

  
"So..." Pidge sings from across the table, propping her chin on the backs of her hands with a smirk. "How'd it go last night?"

  
Hunk chokes on his food, Coran freezes from drinking from his cup. Shiro, Allura, Keith, and Lance all look at her with raised eyebrows and blink at her owlishly.

  
Pidge has an amused look on her face. "I'm not talking about you, Shiro."

  
"I told you." Lance grins to Keith, who only rolls his eyes with a huff.

  
"It's not like we didn't do it last night," Keith glares through the side of his eye at Lance. "So quit joking around like we didn't and they did."

  
Lance averts his gaze from Keith, as well as Keith from Lance as they both realize everyone is staring at them in a deathly silence. The atmosphere is heavy with awkwardness as they remain silent.

  
"Well?" Pidge cocks her head, raising an amused eyebrow.

  
"Rather not." Keith grumbles as he stiffly walks to make his plate, leaving Lance to stand there awkwardly. He was unusually straight in posture, especially his legs, and Keith can't help but smile to himself. He shouldn't have been so rough on the poor boy. Oh well, he couldn't have helped it, then. He wasn't thinking straight and his mind was fogged, and the heat that begged to be extinguished surged him on. It was like a instinct, almost. To just let himself go and do what he was meant to.

  
"Keith, did you hear me?" He snaps out of his thoughts when Allura's voice interrupts them. He glances back and realizes she was right behind him, and the others at the table were having a debate about something... Probably what Pidge was trying to pry out of him and Lance. Shiro looked like he was trying to stop it, but he looked about as hopeless as a dad trying to calm screaming toddlers.

  
He turns his purple gaze back to Allura who was looking down at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh... Excuse me, I didn't realize you were talking to me."

  
"Ah, that's alright." Allura smiles. "Too wrapped up in your thoughts, huh?"

  
"I guess so." Keith glances away from her, down to his still empty plate. "They've been getting the best of me, lately."

  
Allura hums in her throat, before she says, "I understand. You've been through a lot recently."

  
"...You have too."

  
"Yes, I know. But you have been through things that would linger on most anyone's mind. What I went through is done and over with, and I don't want to dwell on it. It's not a pleasant memory I'd like to continuously remind myself of."

  
Keith doesn't reply, he only glances up at her with a frown, before averting his gaze back down. "I didn't catch what you were saying. I wasn't paying attention. Could you say it again?"

  
"I was talking to you about Lance."

  
"Oh." Keith flicks his gaze back to stare at the said person. He feels a small smile quirk at the corners of his mouth as he looks at the distressed boy, who is pretty into the conversation with Pidge and Hunk, with Shiro trying to talk them out of it. Coran sits back and observes with a raised brow, sipping from his drink every now and then. The sight makes a small chuckle bubble in his chest, before shaking his head. He looks back at Allura, who seemed to have followed his gaze and glanced back at him with a faint smile. "What were you saying about him?"

  
"I was saying that he's someone to treasure. I'm glad you two finally figured things out and are together. The entire team was furious that you two had no idea that you took the hots for each other." She chuckles. "Pidge especially."

  
"I see." Keith chuckles as well. He turns his head to look back again. "What do you think they're bickering about, now?"

  
"Probably you and Lance." Allura states, watching them with an amused expression. "Lance looks quite flustered and frustrated, and Pidge seems amused and is picking on him, while Hunk is trying to defend your poor boy's case, and Shiro..." she pauses, before snorting. "He looks hopeless. Coran simply looks entertained... By the way... I know this is a personal question, but do you think you and Lance will be able to... Operate, today?"

  
"I'll be fine." Keith says simply as he smirks. "I don't know too much about Lance. I think I was a little too rough with him." He chuckles.

  
"I was only wondering, for you two seemed to walk in strangely..."

  
"Just a little sore. I may have _damaged_ Lance, though."

  
Allura turns her head to him with a surprised look. She blinks at him. "Are you-"

  
"I'm joking, Princess. He'll recover."

  
"Oh, alright. Let's hope soon, because we'll need all the help we can get."

  
Keith frowns. "What do you think they're planning?"

  
"Something that will surely kill the planet and everything on it." She turns away. "They're an alien race who are homeless... What else are they to do, except conquer another planet for themselves?"

  
Keith lets the thought bounce around in his mind for a moment as he stares intently at the others who, by the way, were still hot in the argument. Dread seeps in through his limbs as he thinks back at the times they fought for the entire universe, but now... They were fighting for their home; their lives.

 

"Excuse me?"

  
"You're going to stay with Coran. We can't have you out like you are."

  
"No, I have to go with you guys! You need me with you, right?"

  
Shiro opens his mouth, but shuts it with a frown. He sighs. "Yes, Lance, but you need to..." He pauses, trying to find the proper way to word it. " _Recover_ , before you head out into battle."

  
"Shiro-"

  
"But look on the bright side: you successfully helped Keith, that's what we needed you to do. And now that Keith is back in the game without being distracted, we can do this. Plus, we have Allura, so you don't have to worry about us having one less lion at our side. If you're feeling better tomorrow, we'll let you come with us, but otherwise, you're to stay here. We can't afford the risk of you getting hurt."

  
Lance furrows his brow together and frowns as he pouts at the ground. "Fine."

  
Shiro pats him on the shoulder with a small smile to reassure him, before he takes his helmet from his hip and puts it on his head. "We'll be back soon. Keith, are you ready?"  
Keith comes jogging up to Shiro and frowns. "I can't find my other boot."

  
Shiro sucks in a breath and breathes a deep, heavy sigh.

 

"Alright, let's go." Shiro bellows, which sends everyone suited up scrambling towards him. "Let's get the lions out of here and take the castle into orbit."

  
"Hey," Lance twists his head to face the voice that came from behind him. He finds Keith frowning at him with his helmet at his hip. "Why the long face? You should be happy you get to relax." When Lance doesn't respond, Keith sighs. "Sorry for... Destroying your ability to come out with us today. If I could, I'd stay here with you." Again, Lance remains silent, and Keith huffs before patting Lance on the arm and saying, "Alright... I'll leave you alone. I'll be back in a few hours, alright?" He leans in to place a quick peck on Lance's cheek, before walking away, his hand dragging down the blue paladin's arm as he departs.

  
"Aww," Pidge coos, and Lance glances up at Keith's back with a small flush across his cheeks and the tips of his ears. Keith raises the helmet onto his head as he walks by Pidge, and when he equips it, he punches Pidge's shoulder as he saunters behind Shiro, who was trailing behind Allura. Pidge protests against Keith as she quickly follows behind him, and Hunk follows, shaking his head. He turns to wave at Lance, before he departs from sight as well.

  
Lance felt like a mother sending her sons off to war.

  
When the door slides closed, Lance frowns and calls to Coran behind him, "I'm gonna be in the bedroom... Or playing videogames. You know where to find me if you need me."  
"Is there something troubling you, Lance?" The ginger says as he turns to raise an eyebrow at him. "You seem distressed."

  
"Nah, I'm fine." Lance displays a smile, before quickly leaving the room, although not as quickly as he'd hoped. The after affects of getting mercilessly pounded in the ass doesn't go away within an hour.

  
_Maybe I'll just walk it out... I can train... Then I'll really have the time to myself without anyone interrupting. Except for Coran, of course, but he'll be too busy piloting the ship to bother me. This might be nice, afterall..._

 

Lance decided not to train, afterall. He just... Laid in bed, starfished on his back as he stared up at the ceiling and listened to music. He wasn't in his bedroom, either, but I'm sure you can guess whose bedroom he's in. The one he woke up in, this morning. His hand tapped on the bed to the beat that drummed in his ears. He sighed through his nose, as he closed his eyes. His peaceful moment was soon interrupted by the rumbling and roaring of the ship taking off. It vibrated through his body and jarred his teeth, but after a couple of minutes it slowly eased out, and Lance relaxed again.

  
He was incredibly bored. He wanted to sleep, but he found himself worrying about Keith and the others because he wasn't there to keep an eye on them. But, he wasn't expecting anything big to happen. They were just supposed to scout the atmosphere and the solar system, and everything would be okay... Right?

  
_What if there's an entire fleet out there and they're being picked off one by one? What if they're hurt and I can't help them? What if..._ Lance shakes his head, dragging his hands down his face with a sigh. He plucks his headphones off his ears and sits up, his feet touching the cold floor. He props his elbows on his knees and huffs, cupping his face in his hands. He runs one through his hair and stares down at the floor as he lets his hands fall into his lap. The blue paladin glances over to his left in the floor, where he sees Keith's jacket, which looked like it was shred off in a hurry. _This morning..._ Lance realized, smiling slightly.

  
He stands from the bed and opens the door, before sauntering down the hallway into the cockpit. The door slides open to reveal the sheer blackness and twinkling of stars in space, and off to the side, they'd just passed Venus, seemingly headed for Mercury. He figured they would travel around the sun and scout the other planets, and maybe a little ways past then.

  
"Ah, hello." Coran turns around at the faint whoosh of the door sliding open. "You feeling alright?"

  
"Yeah." Lance responds, glancing around as nostalgia seeps over him. He focuses his gaze back on Coran. "How are things going?"

  
"No sign of anything, so far." Coran flicked his blue gaze to the right of the room. "Shiro, Hunk and Pidge are out scouting. Keith and Allura are staying by the castle to keep watch, just in case."

  
Lance smiles slightly. He knew Keith wasn't just keeping watch of the castle because he had to. He knew it was because he'd be as close to Lance as possible; Lance could see right through him, even when he wasn't there to look him face to face.

  
"Hey, Coran, they're back." Keith voice came through, and Lance glances to the side when he sees the red lion appear from the far right of the castle, making his way in front of them. Lance allows a small smile to creep across his lips.

  
Coran didn't notice, thankfully, for he'd already turned back around. "Alright." He falls silent as he switches the coms to Shiro. "Have you scouted the other planets, yet?"

  
"Yes, they're quiet, as usual. Something seems off, though. We should come down into their atmospheres and see what's going on. I don't think just skimming the solar system is going to help."

  
"Hey, Shiro?" Lance says unconsciously before he can stop himself. He had a terrifying thought.

  
"Ah, Lance, nice to hear you're not-"

  
"What if they wanted us out here?"

  
It was silent for a moment as everyone listened.

  
"...Elaborate." Shiro says uneasily.

  
"What if they wanted us to come out here and scout? Because they were lying in wait for us to leave, and without us there, they have no one to stop them from getting in?"  
Shiro cursed under his breath, and Lance saw the three of their lions come back around, heading their way. "Lance might be right. We need to get back as fast as possible. Coran, you think you'll be able to create a wormhole there?"

  
"Comin' right up."

 

Before Lance knows it, he's suited up and being rushed into one of the ships of the castle, and he's entering the earth's atmosphere at an alarming speed. He'd feel a lot more badass in his lion, but he supposed this would have to do...

  
Once he's bursting through the puffy white clouds, he yanks himself upward, and scans the ground with his frantic blue eyes.

  
"Lance, are you seeing anything?" Shiro asks, worry laced in his voice. "We're coming in hot, so if you see anything, turn around and flee immediately. We'll handle it."

  
"Roger." Lance shuffles in his seat uncomfortably. He was still quite sore. As he continued to search, there's no sign of activity anywhere, except for the occasional bird flapping through the air. "Uh, I'm not seeing anythi-"

  
He was cut short when an small, but rather large fleet of ships bursts through the canopy of trees, leaves flying everywhere and making it difficult to see. However, Lance pulls back as fast as he can, and manages to land a few shots and get rid of a couple of ships before they start firing at him. "Nevermind, I jinxed myself. We got a fleet down here. They're just fighter ships, so it shouldn't be too big of a problem. And uh, please hurry, they're practically biting my ass."

  
"Hang on, Lance. We're almost there." Shiro says rather calmly, although there is a bit of panic in his voice.

  
Lance is flipping, spinning, evasive maneuvers, anything else you can imagine to avoid the blasts from the many ships behind him. It was starting to make him queasy. When he glances up at the sky, the only thing he sees is a red, fiery cat of fury hurtling down towards him at an alarming speed. Lance won't have time to dodge, so he instead pulls back suddenly, and glances behind him, only to see the ships frantically avoid from hitting him. He grazes a wing from one, but not a lot of damage was dealt, thankfully. But falling back at such a speed was difficult to come back up from. The blue paladin grunted as he strained the muscles in his arm to pull himself up before he crashed into the trees, and got himself into far more trouble.

  
Finally, he manages to pull up, skimming the leaves as he barely misses the trees. He curses loudly when a ship is headed right for him, and fires at it without second thought. A few shots and it's rubble.

  
"Lance! Are you okay?" Keith shouts over the coms, and Lance winces at the noise in his ear.

  
"I would be if you didn't yell in my ear."

  
"Coran's on his way to help us. There's a lot more ships than you said there were."

  
"Well, sorry for trying to survive instead of counting close to a thousand ships for an accurate report to you. I like to live too, you know." Lance huffs, and grumbles when there are three ships at his tail. "Hang on a sec."

  
"Lance, don't. I've got them for y-"

  
Lance speeds up, and once he's well ahead of them, he jerks the ship to the side, snapping himself around harshly. It nearly flings him to the wall of the ship, but he hangs on tightly. Once he's facing his opponents, he fires at all three of them, effectively bringing them up into a cloud of smoke and fire. "You don't have to baby me, Keith. Thanks but no thanks."

  
He pulls himself to face forward once again, and his face falls when an enemy ship is mere feet from his, and it's already released its weapons against him. He barely manages to dodge the blasts, but it would be close to impossible to move away from the ship in time. Everything seems to move in slow motion. He tears his gaze away from the ship when the red lion swoops in, its jaws wide open, before clamping shut, crushing the ship in a cloud of dust and fire.

  
"What did you just say, Lance?" Keith says, smugness laced in his voice.

  
Lance sat there in silence like a dead chicken, before he squeaks out, "Yeah."

  
"Get back to the ship and let us handle this, please. You nearly got yourself killed, and you would have been dead if I weren't here."

  
"Keith, I can take care of myself."

  
When Keith doesn't respond, Lance starts to take aim on another target, but his interrupted when it grows dark. Very dark, and he's skimming metal with sparks flying out from under him. Did Keith just-

  
"Keith! Spit me out right now. This isn't cool!"

  
"You're too stubborn. If you won't go back to the ship yourself, I'll just take you."

  
"This is kidnapping! This is against my will!"

  
"Shut up."

  
"Keith! Let me do this!"

  
"I'm not going to let you kill yourself like that. Or in any way. You must think I'm stupid to trust you."

  
Lance disconnects their conversation by taking his helmet off and kicking open the hatch to the pod with a grumble. With helm in hand, he marched his way to the cockpit, and since he was in the mouth, and the mouth was the main entry way, he didn't have much difficulty reaching Keith. When the door slides open for him, Keith whips around with alarm in his eyes as he'd started to stand, but relaxed when he remembered he'd literally just taken Lance in his custody and he expected him to come storming in here like a cloud of a thunderstorm would over an ocean. And soon enough, the angry waves started to pound at the shore and things past it, hence Keith, as Lance yelled his ear off and lectured him about "kidnapping" people and how it wasn't right to take Lance off the battlefield like that when he'd only been helping.

  
Keith droned it out after quite a few minutes as the blue paladin rambled on and on as he continued to venture up to the approaching castle, regardless of Lance's merciless protests.

  
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity for Keith, the castle came into sight, which was slowly dropping into the atmosphere. "Coran!" Keith calls over the coms. "I've got a package ready for drop off."

  
Lance scoffs behind Keith, and the red paladin doesn't even have to look back to know that Lance rolled his eyes. He sneers as Coran responds, which he doesn't catch because Lance is starting to complain again.

  
"If you wouldn't have kidnapped me I could be down there helping you guys," Lance huffs.

  
"I'd rather you not get killed in a tiny pod trying to assist giant lions while they're fighting ships far bigger than yours." Keith twists his head around to glare daggers at the blue paladin. "Now stop complaining, or I'll drop you from this lion right now."

  
"You wouldn't."

  
"Oh, I would. Try me."

  
Lance narrows his eyes before he turns away with a grumble, setting his helmet on his hip irritably. He was arousing Keith's irritation and he could tell it, for Keith's face was becoming flush with a dusty pink. And he had that fire in his purple eyes that gleamed threateningly; a clear warning that whatever part of anger within him you should rouse, you best be weary with what you say.

  
But Lance has a loose tongue, and would probably say anything to Keith he pleased and know damn well that he was pushing the red paladin's buttons. And he knew he was doing it now, but he was determined to prove his point and hopefully change Keith's mind. However, that route was not presenting itself, so he was about ready to give up. Or, he was giving up, for the castle was just within a few hundred meters of them now, and there was really no getting back down into the battle after Keith left him stranded with Coran.

  
Lance said no further after Keith turned back around in his seat. He was staring off to his left side and his entire body froze with dread. He felt Red brush against his consciousness, as if she'd sensed his distress, but his mind was focused on what lay before his eyes. "Keith..." he whispers breathlessly.

  
"Lance, don't start it again. I'll-"

  
"Keith! How are you not seeing that?! Coran!" Lance shouts over the coms in panic and he can feel Red react to his adrenaline rush. She shudders, and spurs her speed on as she turns to face what Lance was having a meltdown about. There, many miles to their left, was an entire fleet of ships and... Something else seemed to be rushing alongside the ships, but Lance dared not delay a second longer to try and figure out what they were. They looked to be winging their way down, so Lance guessed them to be creatures of some sort.

  
"What? Lance?" Coran scrambles to answer the panicked voice.

  
"We've got a big problem! If we're going to get rid of these no-gooders, then we're going to need a lot of backup..."

  
"What? What is it?"

  
"Coran..." Keith grunts, and directs the coms to everyone else. He takes a breath. "There's an entire fleet of ships headed into the atmosphere right now. Somewhere close to the Atlantic Ocean, but within time their ships will reach land soon."

  
"...Guess it's a good thing the ships down here are taken care of." Hunk laughs nervously, his voice cracking slightly from fear.

  
"Don't let them frighten you," Shiro cuts in, his voice strong and confident and soothing. "That's what they want you to do; to cowar in fear. For the moment any of us falters, it'll be our undoing. C'mon, we've handled fleets before, possibly bigger and we survived, escaping with a few scathes here and there. We can take them."

  
"Yes but... What about the people down there, Shiro?" Pidge pipes in. "If we fight them in the atmosphere, everyone below us will be crushed or blown up and away. We're trying to save everyone, not kill them."

  
"As long as the battle stays over oceans, everything should be fine. Should some stray away, we'll lure them back in. As long as we work together, they won't stand a chance against us. Don't let them intimidate you.

  
"Allura, I hate to let you go, but Coran needs you back down on the ship. You're much better with the castle than you are with the lion, as great as a paladin you are. Lance should play a part in this, as a Voltron paladin, and he doesn't know a part in how the castle works. We need our sharpshooter." Lance could hear the soft smile in his voice. He would have smiled right back, if not for their situation.

  
"I understand." Allura says gently. "I shall head towards the castle immediately. I'll be up soon, Lance."

  
"Alright." Lance lets out a puff of tense air from his cheeks as he runs his hand through his hair. Most of the flight was silent with tension in the air, and Lance grew ever more nervous. He hated this feeling. The panic right before a big battle. It made him a mess. And he'd prefer it if he wasn't a mess. He needed to be at his best at a time like this, and that he wasn't. Anything but. He was starting to grow weary from the tension in his muscles and his butt was horribly sore and still ached, which caused his back to respond in a negative way. His nerves were bouncing off walls, and his breath was slightly uneven. He didn't know about the others, but he was terrified. Shiro's encouraging speech had given him a spark of determination, however it did not completely overpower his fear. In fact, his fear overpowered his determination. He'd rather hide from this battle and never show his face again, but he knew he couldn't leave the paladins to their fates. It wouldn't be right, and plus he was part of a team, and a team always worked together, no matter the circumstances. The need to protect and help them was broader than his fear, which fueled the fire on coals of his determination. He was determined. He was ready. He was not afraid. He could do this.

  
"Lance," Keith's soft spoken voice gently pulls Lance from his rambling thoughts. "You're nervous."

  
"No I'm not."

  
"Yes you are." Keith turns his head to the side and his gaze peers through the corner of his eye at the blue paladin. "Your breathing is uneven..." he glances down before back up to Lance's face again. "And you're fidgeting."

  
Lance averts his ocean gaze down to the hand on his helmet, which was on his hip, and found himself picking at the rims and lips on it. He sighs. "Yeah? So what?"

  
"You shouldn't be."

  
"I'm not allowed to be scared? We're going into _battle_ , Keith. Why would I not be scared, or at least nervous?" he raises an eyebrow. "I find that pretty inhuman, if you ask me."

  
"I wasn't saying that." Keith frowns. "I'm... Nervous too. But just... Don't let it get to you too much." When he falls silent and Lance doesn't respond, he remains silent. His nerves were shot just as much as Lance's, no doubt. "Be sure what you're doing, and it'll go through smoothly."

  
Lance hums in response, but says no further.

 

After a few moments, Lance is dropped off at the castle and he waits for Allura. Keith had hurried off to join Shiro and the others on their trek to the east. Lance didn't complain, although he couldn't help but to acknowledge the twinge of nervousness shoot through him as he saw the red lion dart off. Finally, what seemed like an eternity to Lance (which had only been a couple of minutes), the blue lion showed up with the cargo that was to be discarded on the castle with Coran. Without hesitation, he hurries over and gives Allura a quick greeting, which was merely a nod and the graze of a palm of a hand on the shoulder.

  
As Lance climbs into the lion and settles himself in the seat, he feels a wave of certainty wash over him. He's suddenly, strangely calm, as if whatever the problem was just disappeared, even if he knew it wasn't true. It was only then he came to the realization that Blue was giving off a low purr, which was blended with a quiet hum as she pulled away. She was trying to reassure him with pleasant images and calming thoughts, and it was working, though Lance would never admit that. The blue paladin realized he'd been resisting the prescense in his mind while he'd been wrapped in his thoughts, so he put himself at ease and allowed the alien-made mind mend with his own.

  
"Right, we've got this," Lance says to Blue, however more of to himself, with an impressive amount of determination, compared to earlier. "Here goes nothing."

 

Finally, he had caught up with the group and trailed behind them. No one said a word as Shiro explained the strategy. "We're going to try and flank them. Lance, Pidge, and I will do that. Keith and Hunk will stand guard in front of them. Try to keep them out of entering any further into the atmosphere as possible. Once they become too overpowering, and they begin to get cocky with their work, the flankers will strike. Pidge, you'll cloak and hide among them, then you will ambush them and reveal yourself. Once so, Lance and I will come in to assist you, as will Keith and Hunk. We want them to think they can turn the tide of the battle. Let their ego grow, for once we destroy it, we'll devastate them severely. Or maybe only slightly, but that will still put us to an advantage. We need to pry out as many weaknesses from them as possible, if we are going to even stand a chance against them. Any of them could be their undoing. We don't know if their entire fleet is here, but if they are, we're going to show them that we fight tooth and nail until our lungs give out. We're not going to give up until we draw that last breath. Do you all hear me?"

  
"Yes sir." They all quietly mumbled, like children who had just gotten yelled at. Reluctance hung in Lance's throat and laced itself into his voice; he was not ready for this. Not again. This war between them and this species was supposed to be over after Lotor established order among the kingdom.

  
_Lotor!_

  
"Shiro," Lance addresses over the coms. "Lotor is still their ruler, right?"

  
"Yes, but we've already contacted him, and he'd no idea of what they were doing. We're thinking it's one of the remaining rebel groups in the empire. Possibly the only one left, hence it's so large." Shiro responds rather quickly, and Lance can tell that the adrenaline is rushing through his veins like a waterfall down to a river. "We don't know if he's coming to help us, but if so, then he just have to wait and hold them off until then. If not, you know what to do."

  
The blue paladin said no further, as did everyone else. They remained silent until they'd reached their battleground.

  
"Pidge, go ahead and cloak," Shiro orders. "Get in position, everyone."

  
Without a breath of pause, they all scattered to their stations. Keith and Hunk snapped to their left, while the rest to the right. The outbreak was about to begin. He could barely see the green lion rippling through the air next to him, and reassured himself that everything was going to be okay. However, panic tore at his chest when he heard the firing of cannons and guns, and over the commotion Shiro ordered them to fall further back behind them, taking care not to alert them of their prescence.  
"Guys!" Hunk's panicked voice breaks through onto the coms. "They got some... Weird... Lizard-bird thingies and they're swarming us! I don't know how much longer we can hold them off."

  
_Lizard-birds?_ "Describe them." It was more of a demand than a suggestion.

  
"Exactly what they sound like." Keith grunts with a bit of irritation. "Hooked snouts, leathery wings, claws... Large and long tails. Six legs? They're _ugly_ and _annoying_."

  
Lance would have laughed if not for the situation they were in. He was too nervous to laugh. Are those what he saw earlier when he first spotted the fleet? The strange figures winging their way alongside the ships?

  
"Now!" Shiro's strong voice cuts through Lance's thoughts, ripping them out of his head and putting him back into the battle. He watches intently as several ships fall away in a cloud of fire and smoke, and before long Pidge reveals herself within the ships. It was almost laughable how noticeable the confusion spread throughout the fleet all at one time. It set them in a state of disorder, which signaled their chance. Shiro and Lance both dashed forward, their lions' claws outstretched with a gleaming threat, and Lance thought he could have never felt more inspired from such. They attacked with an unnatural swiftness, knocking aside and destroying any ships in their wake. They clawed, bit, shot, and battled with several ships. The widespread panic within the fleet gave them the upper-hand, allowing them to push through and wipe out a good percentage of the large fleet. They wouldn't hold the advantage for much longer, Lance knew, and they would quickly be overpowered and forced to fall back.

  
Shiro was one step ahead of him.

  
"Fall back! We'll be battered to nothing but metal splinters if we stay here and fight much longer. We need Coran and Allura's help."

  
Lance started to follow the orders when something slams onto Blue's face, obscuring his sight on the battlefield before him. He recoils when he sees the hideous beast Keith had described. They were, in fact, ugly and annoying.

  
The alien seemed more alien than the Galra, and his mind quickly questioned if they were a native species of their home planet, or if they had just stolen them from another planet for their own selfish uses. The creature was skinny; frighteningly skinny, while its thighs and arms looked much more muscular for its body. It had a total of six limbs, not counting the leathery wings that sat just behind its shoulders. The wings held no fingers or bones, but was all skin, a single membrane attached from the tip of its wing, and met with the body. Its snout was hooked and pulled back into an ugly snarl as it scrapped and bit at the glass under it, hissing and swishing its tail back and fourth. The inside of its mouth was a startling orange when it opened its mouth, and its tongue slithered and shimmered in the solar light as it wriggled. The tongue didn't look like a tongue, but like tentacles wiggling and sliding along its mouth in search for something to grab. Its body was a horrifying red and black, looking as if it'd taken a blood bath in the ashes of animals burnt to a crisp, like a demon out of a horror movie, maybe worse, and it made Lance feel sick if he stared at it much longer. He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned away, before shaking the lion from side to side, trying to shake the creature off.

  
Finally, after a few moments of biting and scratching and hissing, it pumped its large leathery wings and pushed off of the glass with its hind legs.

  
"Ugly, aren't they?" Keith teases over a private link with Lance. "Don't some of them make you want to hurl and hide away in a corner?"

  
Lance swallowed thickly. "Yeah."

  
"Some aren't so bad looking," the red paladin sighs. "Like that blue one up there."

  
Lance leans forward in his seat slightly and glances up and sees the creature he was describing. It was a handsome blue, and its hide seemed to shimmer in the faint blue glow of the earth's aura, along with the orange flares from the sun. He watched it carefully as it floated along outside the still disturbed ships. It didn't seem to notice them, but didn't look like it intended to go back into that mayhem. He wouldn't blame it, really.

  
Now that he thought about it, he wondered how close Keith really was to him. Lance quickly took a look to his left, and sure enough, the edge of Red's nose was poking just out of the field of vision of his lion's.

  
"That one's a handsome one," Keith quirks, and Lance has a wave of confusion wash over him. Why was he talking about this like that? Maybe he hit his head or something. "You wanna know why?" When Lance doesn't answer, he hears Keith take a breath before he says, "Because it's blue, and you're the blue paladin, and I think blue is the handsomest of them all."

  
Lance winces with a small grin. His coms are muted for now, thankfully, and he allows a small bubble of laughter escape. He then unmutes his coms. "That was really bad."

  
"I'm just trying to lighten the mood, okay?" Lance could hear the frown in his voice. "Earlier you were so fired up and determined to get rid of them that I literally had to 'kidnap' you away from the battle so you wouldn't kill yourself. Now you just seem like all the life's been sucked out of you. What's wrong?"

  
"Just..." Lance sighs. "Nervous, is all."

  
"Why are you so nervous all of the sudden? How is this any different from earlier?"

  
"Bigger, badder ships; more of them, a much larger fleet than last time. With... Those things, which we've never seen or heard of before. I'm just not enjoying it. Are you?"

  
"...I can't say that I am, else I'd sound bloodthirsty and cruel. Plus, I'd be lying. I'm just trying to lift your spirits to get your head in the game. Focus. We're going to stop them, I promise. And if not, then it'll be over my dead body."

  
"Keith! Don't talk like th-"

  
"If we lose, then I'm going to die trying to save this planet. It's the only home I've ever had, even if there was no specific place for me to stay. But even then, I would wonder about and hang around somewhere before moving on. I never left this place. I guess that's why I was starting to feel a little homesick, even if I had no home to return to. Earth, is my home. But, my true home is where ever you guys are."

 

"What do you mean, _creatures_?"

  
"We don't know what they are, but they're a nuisance. They get in the way, and the Galra are taking advantage of that."

  
Shiro and Allura had been exchanging information for ate least three minutes, now. The others were beginning to grow tired of floating around the castle and fending off any ships who dared get close. After Keith's little speech to Lance, both their spirits had lifted. Especially Lance. He was feeling more sharp and determined after he took a moment to process Keith's words,a lthough the lingering discomfort and nervousness still gnawed at him. He would make it. They would make it, he was sure of it. And there was nothing that was going to get in his way to stop his victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls inform me of any booboos oops


	21. A/N

heyo my dudes and dudets

 

soo i know i havent put up another chapter more or less even touched the next one in over 2 months aaand my pitiful reasons are:

1\. im lazy and totally forgot about it bc im an asshole

2\. i have 0 motivation because of the new season bc its sO PAINFULLY OBVIOUS THAT LANCE AND ALLURA ARE GONNA SMOOCH AND NOW DETAILS IN THE STORY ARE SCREWED UP BC MY LAZY ASS WOULDNT FINISH THE STORY BEFORE THAT SEASON CAME OUT

3\. i just have no motivation like period

so yeah im sorry guys but i dunno if ill be continuing this?? i mean i might throw some short chapters out here and there if i really feel like it but honestly i might forget i ever wrote this and try to write another or re-write this one hahah

i also wanted to say i really and truly appreciate all the love this got since i dont really get a lot of attention on my other stuff like wow thank you guys so much i cant say how much that heCKING means to me and i kinda hate to just cut it off like im doing

again, im sorry and i hope ill have something else in mind that you all will like in the future maybe

and of course any kind of ideas or suggestions are always welcome and i appreciate all the help i can get <33

**Author's Note:**

> i hope i get to finish this series, without the threat of writer's block settling in, like always when i try to write long term stories!! and overall, i hope you enjoy it!!
> 
> kudos and comments, and of course, all help is greatly appreciated!! <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Place That They Call Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16027568) by [spicyYeet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spicyYeet/pseuds/spicyYeet)




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